


Be My Dirty Little Secret

by taengoo1



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Henelope friendship, Secret Relationship, homophobic parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-01-25 19:28:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 81,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21361480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taengoo1/pseuds/taengoo1
Summary: Life can be very difficult when your parents are old-fashioned and conservative people. High school student Josie Saltzman has unfortunately had to put up with them her whole life. They would always tell her to dress in an appropriate way, one that is approved by the community they live in with its mainstream values and beliefs, to speak and act in a proper and polite manner, and have excellent results in every school subject in order to secure herself a spot in an elite university in the future. Josie hates all the expectations people have of her and she is so fed up with the constant pressure that she is under. Thankfully, fate is generous enough to introduce her to Hope Mikaelson, the only person in this world she feels comfortable around and who understands her like no one else. They click from the moment they meet, but with the environment they live in will they be allowed to be together freely or will they be forced to keep their relationship a secret?
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 127
Kudos: 522





	1. My mother is such a control freak

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Hosie fic because Hosie is everything! 
> 
> This is the first fic I'm posting here on this site. It's actually a Hosie version of a K-pop fic of mine that is posted on Asianfanfics and which I am trying to finish. ;d
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Josie Saltzman groaned loudly as soon as she heard the annoying sound her phone began making very early in the morning. She slowly opened her eyes and swiped with her finger across her phone’s screen in order to turn that horrible noise off. At that moment she immediately began dreading the fact that she had set her alarm for 7:00 AM. _Who in the world made up this stupid rule that schools have to start so early in the morning?_ Josie thought and covered her face with the bed sheets, hoping that she could catch a few more minutes of sleep. Unfortunately though, Josie knew that the probability of that happening is probably zero percent because like any other morning, her mother was up and ready since 6:00 AM, so she could make breakfast and then drive her and her sister Lizzie to school, and would definitely come knocking on her bedroom door any second now.

“Josie? Are you up?” And there she was. Right on time. Caroline’s loud voice was heard from the other side of the closed door. “I heard your alarm ringing, honey.”

“I’m awake, mom…” Josie yelled out so her mother could hear her. Gosh, how she hated this. It was the same thing every damn day and she was getting so sick of it. She wished her mother wasn’t so involved in her life, but there was nothing she could do to change that.

“Okay then. Get ready while I go wake up your sister,” Caroline told her daughter and then Josie heard the sound of her footsteps slowly fading as her mother made her way to her sister Lizzie’s room.

Another groan escaped the girl’s mouth as she pushed the sheets away and brought herself up in a sitting position on her bed. She then stretched her arms and body before getting up. It wouldn’t take her long to get herself ready for school because the girl had her own bathroom and everything she could ask for because her parents were rich.

Her father Alaric Saltzman is the owner of one of the most successful companies in America which meant that he wasn’t around all that much, always going on business trips and doing paperwork in his office. Her mother was home more often, though, since she’s a fashion designer and mostly had people do the hard work for her. She would just design the clothes and accessories while letting her employees handle the paperwork and all that other boring crap.

Josie let a sigh escape her mouth while she was looking at herself in the mirror and brushing her beautiful long brown hair. She often wondered what it would’ve been like if her parents were different, not so controlling and giving her a little more freedom. Would she maybe be doing average at school and not being at the top of her class? Would she have a boyfriend? Would she skip classes once in a while like some of her classmates? Things would’ve been a whole lot different, but it was just a fantasy and now she had to get back to reality because if she didn’t, she would be late and her mother would scold her.

After getting dressed, doing her hair and putting just a little make-up on, because her mother would disapprove of her look otherwise, Josie was finally ready and began making her bed. She really hated doing that, but if she didn’t, then her mother would scold her for being lazy and then compare her to the daughters of her rich friends, something that made Josie go absolutely crazy. She had never understood this obsession her mother had with competition. Whenever her or Lizzie get an excellent mark in whichever school subject, her mother would, of course, brag about how intelligent her daughters are in front of her friends at the fashion salon while doing their nails, hair or whatever. The girl got embarrassed just at the thought of that.

As soon as Josie was done with everything, she went out of her bedroom and walked straight inside the dining room. Her sister Lizzie was there already, eating waffles while her mother was asking her some questions about school.

“Oh, you’re finally ready, Josie. I was just about to come and check on you. What took you so long?” Caroline suddenly stopped talking to Lizzie and asked her daughter, making Josie roll her eyes and answer with a little pissed-off tone in her voice, “I know how to manage my time, mom. Look, there’s still ten minutes left before we have to leave.”

“That just leaves you five minutes to eat your waffles. Don’t you know that eating fast will make your stomach hurt?” her mother told her and crossed her arms in front of her chest while tapping her foot against the hardwood floor.

“Don’t worry, mom… I can always buy something at school,” Josie said and rolled her eyes once again, getting even more pissed.

“Yeah, eating that garbage they make at the cafeteria. Why do that when you can eat something that I make for you at home?” Josie was getting angrier by the second. God, how she hated when her mother did that, but she couldn’t just keep arguing with her. It would probably go on forever because her mother was stubborn as hell and wouldn’t back down. So she decided to just back off and apologize so this could just end already.

“Alright! I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I promise…” Josie told her mother and sighed, then sat down to eat the waffles that her mother had already placed on the table for her.

* * *

The ride to school wasn’t silent at all. Caroline just kept asking her daughters all kinds of questions about school, their teachers, grades, everything concerning their studies. She was so invested in their academic life that it was unbelievable.

“Josie, did you finish your history report on time?” she asked the older girl and Josie just nodded her head in agreement. “Good! What about you, Lizzie, did you read all your assigned books for Literature class?”

Lizzie answered her with a “Yes!” and rolled her eyes. She hated this as much as Josie did, but there was nothing she could do as well. It was just how their mother was…

After fifteen minutes, Caroline dropped off Lizzie at her school. The girls’ mother wanted them to study in different school in order to be less co-dependent. As soon as they watched the blonde-haired girl walk inside the building, Caroline began driving towards Mystic Falls High where Josie was studying. She was in her second year of high school. Two more and she’d graduate and head off to university. Then she’d finally be free of her mother’s control. Josie couldn’t wait for that to happen so she prayed every day for the years to go by quickly.

When they were nearing the high school, Josie noticed her best friend Milton Greasley, or MG as everyone called him, waiting for her in the yard and eating something of course. The boy was addicted to food and would always be stuffing his face, even in class when the teacher’s not looking. If they catch him, he’d just excuse himself and go to the bathroom, where he could eat in peace for a few minutes.

Caroline stopped the car in front of Mystic Falls High and Josie quickly got out. MG immediately came to greet them as usual by giving his best friend a hug and afterwards waving at Caroline.

“Hey, Mrs. S! How’s it going?” the boy asked Josie’s mother cheerfully. He was speaking with his mouth full, food flying out of it from time to time. It was extremely inappropriate and Caroline disapproved of this kind of behavior, but she didn’t say anything because MG’s mother was a very influential woman in Mystic Falls and she didn’t want to get on her bad side. She couldn’t risk MG telling her something along the lines that she scolded him or was rude to him. Caroline didn’t really like Josie hanging out with that boy. MG had an average GPA and was way below Josie’s level, but she couldn’t do anything about that. It wasn’t that big of a deal, though. She controlled all other aspects of her life anyway.

“Everything is good. Thank you for asking, MG. But I have to leave you two now, because I have to go to work. Study hard!” she said and then drove off as fast as she could.

As soon as Caroline was gone, Josie began laughing out loud. She loved how her mother’s behavior would always change once MG was with them because she was afraid of Mrs. Greasley.

“It’s so funny how my mother acts around you,” Josie told her best friend and MG started laughing as well.

“That’s why I’m your best friend! How are you gonna survive without me?” the boy said and put his arm around Josie.

“You’re such a dork. I love you!” the brown-haired girl exclaimed as her smile grew. “I should bring you home more often.”

Whenever she and MG would have a movie night, Josie’s mother wouldn’t dare come near her daughter’s room. She didn’t even care that she was alone with a boy in there. Since it was MG, she wouldn’t say a thing. At those moments, Josie felt so free, like she could do anything she wanted.

“We’re getting you a boyfriend this year!” MG told his best friend as they were walking through the school halls.

“You know I can’t. My mother wouldn’t approve,” Josie replied with a sad tone in her voice. _That would’ve been great…_

“God, your mother is such a control freak, you know. I hate how she controls every aspect of your life, Jo…” the boy said angrily and took a bite of his sandwich. “Like, what’s it gonna take for her to back off a little? Maybe I should become your boyfriend. She won’t tell you anything because she’d be too afraid of my mother.”

“Stop joking around, you dork!” Josie told him and laughed out loud at the idea that her best friend suggested.

In all her years, Josie had never even once had a boyfriend because she was too afraid that her mother would disapprove. She had only kissed two boys at birthday parties and it was because she was dared to. Now she was seventeen years old and still a virgin while most of the girls in her class had had more boyfriends than she could count. This made her feel very self-conscious but she couldn’t do anything about it. It was just how things were…

As Josie and MG were walking, they heard the bell ring, signaling that class was about to start, so they hurried up and quickly went inside Room 205 for their first class – Microeconomics.

* * *

“Who can tell me something about the Marshallian Utility Analysis?” Mr. Vardemus, the Microeconomics teacher, asked the class and waited for someone to raise a hand. Of course, the first person to do that is none other than our very own Josie Saltzman. He immediately nodded his head with a smile on his face, signaling for her to start speaking.

“Mashallian Utility Analysis was introduced by Alfred Marshal as a system that can define and measure utility objectively. It is also known as the cardinal approach to utility. According to Marshall, 'utility is the want satisfying ability of a good'. So, when a consumer uses a good, he derives from it utility,” Josie gave the most perfect answer to the teacher’s question, making him smile even wider and begin clapping. She was the brightest student he’s had in all his years of teaching and he was happy to have her in his class.

“Wonderful! You always amaze me with your knowledge, Josie. Great job!” Mr. Vardemus praised his favorite student in front of the whole class.

Afterwards, Josie managed to answer all the other questions that the teacher asked, not giving a chance to any other student. She didn’t feel bad though, because she was actually saving their butts since they didn’t know anything. Especially her dorky best friend. The only curve that exists in his book is that of a burger. He could care less about indifference curves, income consumption curves and all that other crap that they learn in Microeconomics.

The class was nearing its end and Mr. Vardemus reminded everyone that they have a test in the upcoming week, making everyone groan in displeasure. He was one of the strictest teachers at Mystic Falls High which meant that almost every student hated him. How Josie managed to survive and actually answer his questions perfectly, they had no idea…

After the bell rang and the class was over, Mr. Vardemus asked his favorite student to stay for a few minutes so they could discuss their trip to Los Angeles for the LA Economics Forum they’re supposed to attend in a couple of weeks.

“Everything is going according to plan, sir…” Josie told him and smiled happily. She was so excited to go back to her home city. The girl was born in Los Angeles, but moved to Mystic Falls when she was ten because her father expanded his company by opening up branches all over the country. The thought of them going to LA made her feel unbelievably happy. The biggest reason for that was probably that she was going to be away from her mother for a whole week. “Everyone is working really hard and I really believe that our project could actually win 1st place.”

“Good, good. I’m so happy to hear that,” the man replied with a smile on his face. “I’m counting on you, Josie! Don’t let me down!”

“I won’t, sir!” Josie said with a determined voice and nodded her head. “I promise!”

They continued talking a bit more about the project but unfortunately, the bell rang once again and Josie had to head for her next class or else she would be late. So she then waved goodbye to Mr. Vardemus and afterwards quickly ran out of the room, ready to conquer the next subject that the school throws at her.


	2. Weird Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the lovely comments. I'm glad you're enjoying this fic! ^-^
> 
> Have fun reading this chapter!

Josie walked inside the school cafeteria together with her best friend MG, his arm around her shoulders, of course, because it was kind of their thing. Their specific behavior towards one another and the trust they had in each other were the most important aspects of their friendship, so to them, MG putting his arm around Josie’s shoulder was something special. They had done it for more than a couple of years ever since their first meeting back in elementary school.

The best friends made their way to get something to eat and looked around the place at the same time to see if their other friend Kaleb from their class had shown up. He was absent for the first two periods because he had overslept, typical of him, but had texted MG that he’d maybe show up later so they could eat together.

Kaleb was a slacker, very lazy, and didn’t care that much about school. He usually only came so he could hang out with his friends. The only reason he would probably graduate at all would be because of Josie who often helped him out by doing his homework or other assignments. That was one of the reasons why the girl didn’t really like Kaleb that much and the two weren’t that close, but MG considered him one of his closest friends, so Josie couldn’t refuse when the boy asked her for help.

“Over here, my homies!” Kaleb yelled from the other side of the cafeteria and began waving his arms in the air like some crazy man that needed a one way ticket to a mental institution. Josie rolled her eyes as soon as she noticed the boy. She couldn’t understand how someone could embarrass themselves like that. MG, on the other hand, just continued eating some chocolate bar without saying anything. Both of them each grabbed trays for their food afterwards and began waiting in line so they could get some delicious grub. Josie had already eaten her mother’s waffles at home so she was just going to grab some dessert as she didn’t feel like eating anything else.

“What’ll it be today, MG? What would my favorite student like to eat?” the cafeteria lady asked MG with a wide smile on her face. She absolutely adored the boy and his appetite because he’d always give her compliments like saying that the food is really delicious. The woman loved that because it made her feel good about herself, like she’s doing something amazing. She’d definitely be really sad when MG graduates in two years.

“Mmmm, I’d like a lot of rice, please, some of those mashed potatoes…” the boy began speaking with excitement, “Four sausages because they look absolutely amazing and I have no doubt in my mind that they taste that way as well. Also, I’d like that salad over there. Some of that adorable soup that’s in the back and mmm… for dessert, I’d like a big slice of that chocolate cake.”

“Coming right up, MG!” the cafeteria lady said with a huge grin plastered on her face and winked at the boy. A few minutes later, the food that MG had ordered was placed in front of him. He had to use two trays because one couldn’t hold that much food. Skillfully, like a professional waiter, the boy then picked them up and began making his way to the cashier so he could pay.

“I’d just like a piece of the strawberry cake, please…” Josie told the woman as soon as MG was gone and it was her turn to order. The cafeteria lady looked at her a bit angrily because she didn’t really like Josie. The reason was that she held a grudge against the girl’s mother and she was taking it out on her. Caroline had come to the cafeteria many times before to complain that her daughter shouldn’t eat that junk and since then, Josie was treated coldly by the staff.

“Here…” the woman just told Josie and handed her the food. A frustrated sigh escaped the brunette’s mouth and she was this close to lash out at the cafeteria lady, but she tried to keep it cool and not say anything. So, she just made her way to the cashier and then after paying, she went to the table where her best friend and Kaleb were sitting.

“Is that all you’re gonna eat?” MG asked Josie and raised an eyebrow. The boy still couldn’t understand how other people could consume so little food and be satisfied. He’d die of starvation if he had their eating habits.

“Uhm, not everyone is like you, MG… You can probably eat ten cows and still be hungry,” Josie told him a bit coldly and rolled her eyes.

“Fine, fine… Eat your small piece of cake. I don’t care. Jeez…” MG just replied with his mouth full, a little annoyed by his best friend’s behavior. Josie didn’t mean to act this way, she was just super pissed-off at that moment because she kept thinking of everything that’s wrong in her life.

“Awww, such a fluffy cutie pie you are! Yes, yes you’re so adorable, baby…” Kaleb suddenly yelled out, making everyone in the cafeteria look at him weirdly for a second. A badass dude acting like this was definitely something extremely weird. “Check this out, MG. Look at this little fur ball.” He then showed him the picture of the cutest cat in the world.

Kaleb had a huge obsession with cats which people would always find weird as soon as he tells them. The reason was his appearance mostly and some of his other interests. He looked really badass with his leather jacket and ripped jeans. Also, he’d skip class and would often go behind the school building to smoke. The boy was definitely unique and Josie thought he had a split personality disorder or something. On one side, you have this scary badass person who breaks the rules and spends most of his time reading novels about murder and crime, but on the other side, you have a total softie who fanboys over cute fluffy cats and enjoys cuddling.

“Oh, it’s so adorable!” MG said with a soft voice and looked at the screen of his friend’s phone. Josie wondered why she was friends with them at all in that moment. MG then tried caressing the kitty through the screen but before he could put his greasy fingers over it, Kaleb moved his phone away.

“Hey! Don’t touch my phone with your food-stained fingers, bruh…” the boy scolded his friend and the two began bickering after that, as usual. It was normal for them to act like that, all totally into the bromance one minute and then fighting like an old married couple in the next.

Josie was embarrassed by their behavior once again and sighed, then took a small bite of her cake. She was sometimes jealous of Kaleb, though, because she felt like the boy was closer to MG. The brunette knew that it was all in her head and that they would always be best friends, but sometimes it got to her when she would watch the two of them together.

The bell rang a few minutes later, which meant that they should head off to their next class. MG still hadn’t finished all his food, so he just pulled out a small bag and put everything inside. That allowed him to eat on the way and inside the classroom of course. The three of them then walked out of the cafeteria and towards Room 406 where their Literature class would take place.

* * *

“Maya, I think that we should put the balance sheet and annual report in this folder, so it would be easier for the judges at the forum to find them,” Josie told one of the girls with which she was working on the Economics project. “There are way too many things in that other one.”

The girl was currently with her team in Room 109, preparing everything so that it would be perfect for when they go to Los Angeles. She was paired up with Maya and Dana from Class C, which were two very smart girls, almost at Josie’s level of intelligence. Of course, they were also daughters of two of her mother’s rich friends. That’s why Caroline had no problem with the fact that Josie was hanging out with them. The team also consisted of two boys – Landon and Rafael that were one year older than the three girls.

“According to my schedule, we should finish filling out the rest of the paperwork for the company in the next ten minutes, then we must move on to other important matters,” Dana told everyone and her teammates nodded in agreement.

Their project’s basically a virtual enterprise, meaning that they act out almost everything that a normal one does. They can collaborate with other teams as well, participate in events, and raise money, whatever they want. In the end, they have to introduce the company at the Economics forum to the judges and be evaluated depending on how good of a job they’ve done.

As they continued working hard, there was suddenly a knock on the door. A few seconds after that, a short auburn-haired girl walked inside the room with a note in her hand.

“Can we help you?” Landon asked as soon as he saw her and the girl then began explaining why she was there.

“I’m Hope. Mr. Vardemus said that I have to participate in this project or whatever it is to boost up my grade, or else I won’t be able to play basketball,” the girl just said with an uninterested voice, not caring that they were busy and she had suddenly interrupted their work.

Everyone knew who she was, of course, because she was the star of the basketball team at the school. None of them had actually had a conversation with her before, though, because she was in a different class and would always hang out with the other jocks during breaks.

The whole team wasn’t really thrilled by the idea that they had to let her join them for the project, because they believed that she was just a stupid jock and would only slow them down. Plus, they didn’t like the way she entered the room just now, but they couldn’t do anything about it. Mr. Vardemus’s words were like orders and they must be followed at all cost. So, everyone introduced themselves to Hope and then tried to act friendly towards her. They explained to her what she had to do in order to participate in the work process and just hoped for the best.

Josie finished quickly with her paperwork a few minutes later and decided to check on how the new girl was doing with her assigned task. She moved behind her, making Hope a bit tense with her presence, and looked at the invoice she was filling out. Immediately, she spotted a mistake that the girl was making, so she quickly went on to correct her.

“No, no… Stop!” Josie began speaking and Hope quickly pulled the pen away from the paper and turned to look at the brunette. Of course, she got all defensive immediately and was ready to snap at Josie, because she thought that the girl would yell at her for doing something wrong, but before she could open her mouth, Josie continued what she was saying, “You have to put the IBAN and BIC of the receiver’s bank over here, not there.” The girl explained it to her with a calm and gentle voice, pointing at the proper side of the paper with her finger. This made Hope really surprised since she wasn’t used to this kind of treatment. Most people would always yell at her for doing something wrong – teachers, her parents and brother, her coach. She was the star of the basketball team but still made mistakes from time to time, which was normal. The girl’s human after all, but the coach would still yell at her and tell her that that wasn’t acceptable for a point guard and how embarrassing it was. But Josie just calmly told her without yelling and Hope couldn’t believe it.

“Okay… Yeah, I understand. I will fix it right away,” she immediately told the brunette and Josie smiled, then went on to do something else, leaving Hope alone with her work.

* * *

“How was school today, girls?” Caroline asked her daughters with a stern voice as they were having dinner that night.

“It was okay,” Josie just replied normally and continued eating her food.

“Yeah, same with me…” Lizzie said and did the same as her sister.

“Is that all you’re going to say? What happened during the classes? Did you answer the teacher’s questions? Come on, give me more information…” Caroline asked in annoyance because she believed that their behavior was unacceptable.

Both girls sighed in frustration and each one then began explaining everything to their mother. She listened carefully and sometimes interrupted them to say her opinion, which Josie and Lizzie found extremely annoying but they couldn’t do anything about it. They wished that their father was home for dinner more often because when he was, there was complete silence at the table since he would usually be tired and wouldn’t want anyone talking around him. But that night he wasn’t, so they would probably spend another half an hour or so talking about school to their mother.

“Lizzie, you should’ve worked harder on your presentation. You can’t let Jessica do better than you next time. Understand?” Caroline scolded the younger girl and Lizzie just nodded her head in agreement without arguing with her mother.

“It’s not really up to her, you know? The teacher is the one who evaluates the presentations,” Josie explained to her mother, making the older woman snap at her immediately.

“I know that the teacher evaluates them, Josie. But if your sister had put a little more effort and made a perfect presentation, then the teacher would’ve given her an excellent score,” she told her daughter angrily and Josie sighed because her mother was unbelievable. _Why did I even try to argue with her? She’s so damn stubborn and always thinks she’s right anyway._

“Okay, whatever…” Josie just said after that and stood up from her seat. “I’m done eating. May I be excused?”

“Yes…” Caroline replied without looking at her daughter at all. She was way too angry at the moment to say anything else.

As all this was happening, Lizzie was just sitting there, worried. Josie always protected her by standing up to their mother and what was she doing? Just not saying anything like an idiot. She hated how stupid and weak she was for not talking back to her mother. She was afraid of her and Josie knew that, which is why the girl never blamed her twin sister.

The brunette nodded and then took her dishes to the kitchen, washed them, and afterwards went to her room quietly without saying a word. As soon as she stepped inside her room, the girl jumped on her bed and buried her face in her pillow, then screamed as loud as she possibly could to let out her anger and frustration.

God, she hated her mother so damn much…

After lying in her bed for about half an hour, Josie finally decided to get up and do something on her laptop like watch a movie or videos on YouTube. She quickly grabbed it from the nightstand and pulled the lid up. As soon as the screen lit up, Josie launched her browser and opened up a few tabs. One of them was for Facebook, of course, because they had a group chat with her teammates for the Economics project and if they happened to write something there, she didn’t want to miss it. The other tabs were IMDB where she would search for a movie and YouTube so she could listen to music in the meantime.

While looking through a list of possible choices of movies, Josie suddenly noticed that she had a friend request notification on Facebook because her phone vibrated and its screen lighted up. Curiously, she switched to the other tab to see who it was from.

“Hope Mikaelson,” she uttered out loud as soon as she clicked on the icon and saw the girl’s name. Without giving it a second thought, she accepted the request. Hope was a part of their team now, so why shouldn’t she. Of course, when someone adds a new person on Facebook, they immediately look through their profile because it’s what the majority of people usually do. So that’s what Josie did. She began looking through the girl’s profile, scrolling down her timeline to check out her newest posts. There were some songs there, pictures of her and a few girls from their school that Josie immediately recognized, because they were also on the basketball team. She didn’t see anything other than that, though. Hope seemed like a normal girl and the brunette had no idea how she had a reputation of being kind of a bully. She was smiling in almost every picture and the songs she was posting weren’t that bad. Plus, Josie had no problem talking to her in Room 109 while working on the project. But still, she decided not to let her guard down so easily. Everything could easily be deceiving. “Oh, I should add her to the group chat…” Josie suddenly said because she remembered that Hope wasn’t in there.

As soon as she added her, she received a PM from Hope. It happened a few seconds after she added her which Josie found extremely weird.

**Hope Mikaelson: Thanks for adding me. ^_^**

Josie read it out loud and smiled because she couldn’t believe that the basketball star of Mystic Falls High had sent her a cute smiley emoticon. But still, she thought it was a bit strange that Hope didn’t write that in the group chat but sent it to her directly.

**Josie Saltzman: No problem! :D **

Josie wrote that afterwards and decided to add her own smiley face, so the message wouldn’t seem stuck up or something.

**Hope Mikaelson: Also, I wanted to tell you that working on the project today wasn’t really as bad as I had pictured it. I actually somewhat enjoyed it to be honest. =)) **

The brunette smiled even wider as soon as she read what Hope had written. Never in a million years could she have thought that a jock would enjoy filling out invoices. It was quite a surprise. Josie began writing her reply to that message, but unfortunately, she was interrupted halfway by her mother who had suddenly opened her door without any warning, as usual...

“Josie, honey, don’t you think it’s time to go to bed? It’s late and you’re getting up really early tomorrow,” Caroline told her daughter, making Josie sigh in frustration for probably the hundredth time that day.

“Alright, mom, I will go to bed in a few minutes,” she said to her mother and Caroline left with a satisfied smile on her face.

Josie then finished writing her reply to Hope and felt a bit sad that she would have to go to sleep in a few minutes. She kind of wanted to text her a bit more. The girl could always use her phone but her mother sometimes checked whether she was sleeping and would see her. When someone is on the terrace, they have a view of Josie’s room unfortunately…

**J****osie Saltzman****: I’m glad you enjoyed working on the project with us. We’re meeting up again tomorrow at 11 in the same room. I hope you can have fun with us again and when we go to L.A. we can ace this thing and win 1** **st** ** place. **

**Hope Mikaelson: Yeah, I hope so too. :P **

**Josie Saltzman: By the way, I have to go to bed now. Goodnight and sweet dreams! See you tomorrow. ^^**

After writing that, Josie sent a sticker of a sleeping cat, the one she usually sends to people before going to bed. She then saw that Hope wished her goodnight as well and afterwards closed the lid of her laptop. With a smile still on her face, Josie went to wash up quickly. When she was ready, the girl turned the lights off and after that lied down on her bed under the sheets. Not a minute had passed and Josie was off to dreamland, her last thoughts of Hope and the wonderful conversation they had with each other on Facebook.


	3. Basketball and Pool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A look at Hope's life in this chapter.
> 
> Enjoy all!

Hope Mikaelson might seem like a person who’s got the perfect life – rich family, popularity at school, the chance to one day become the country’s basketball star, but underneath all of that laid a fragile lonely girl who hated how unhappy she was. Her parents lived in a huge fancy house in Mystic Falls and had always spoiled her and her brother Marcel. Whatever they desired, they got immediately. But that kind of wealth came with consequences unfortunately. Both their parents weren’t around much and when they were, they would only care about one thing – the family’s reputation. Since Marcel’s the son, it’s his duty to inherit the family business one day, that’s why both parents have a different attitude towards him than they do towards their daughter. That was something Hope hated a lot, but there was nothing she could do about it.

“Bend your knees more, Hope!” Klaus Mikaelson told his daughter with a firm voice as he watched her train in their backyard on their personal basketball hoop. It was Saturday and the man had a couple of hours free from work. He would usually spend them with Hope so he would keep an eye on her. He was paying close attention whether she works on her basketball skills enough. The reason was that it was crucial for the family’s reputation to have Hope scouted and to play college basketball, then later maybe for a team in the NBA. “The power is in your legs, Hope. The hands just guide the ball. Remember what I thought you!”

“I know, dad…” the girl just replied with a slightly annoyed voice and did as she was told. She hated how bossy her father was towards her all the time, especially how much he pushed her when it came to basketball. It was surprising how she still hadn’t started hating the game because of him.

“Come on, I want you to make fifty free throws in a row and if you miss, you have to start from the beginning,” Klaus said loudly and Hope just nodded in reply. She was so damn tired and her whole body hurt from all the running around, dribbling and throwing the ball, but she couldn’t stop. Her father wouldn’t allow her to take a break even for five minutes. You would say that she was used to this by now because that was how it was almost every week for a long time, but she still wasn’t…

As the girl was shooting the free throws, her father’s phone suddenly began ringing.

“Continue. I’ll be right back…” Klaus told his daughter and then without thinking, he immediately answered the call and went inside the house to speak.

When she saw her father disappear out of sight, Hope let out a tired sigh and sat down on one of the chairs a few meters away from her in order to catch her breath. She knew that he wouldn’t be back for about twenty or thirty minutes because the business calls usually lasted that long, so Hope smiled and ran her fingers through her auburn hair while panting hard.

While sitting there, the girl decided to then take out her phone and see what’s on Facebook. Or more precisely, to check if she had any new messages from a certain girl named Josie Saltzman. The two became kind of close in the past couple of days and would often message each other throughout the day. Even in school, they would text one another from time to time when they weren’t busy with other people or in class. Sadly though, there were no new messages from Josie, so Hope just clicked on their chat and re-read their last conversation. It was something random about their interests because she had asked Josie. A wide smile formed on the girl’s face as she scrolled and read over and over again what was written on the screen.

**Josie Saltzman: I have many interests to be honest. One of them is reading books. <3 I know I sound like such a nerd right now, but whatever, I don’t care. I just love readinggggggg so so so much~ <3 <3 <3 **

**Hope Mikaelson** **: Don’t worry. I think it’s kind of adorable. You’re so passionate about reading books. It’s the same as how I feel about basketball. ^-^ **

**Josie Saltzman: Exactly! =))**

**Hope Mikaelson: ^____^ **

**Josie Saltzman: BTW, my mom’s calling me… I have to go see what that witch wants… -_-**

**Hope Mikaelson: Okay, talk to you later then… Byee~ ^-^**

The girl got so lost in reading the chat that she didn’t really hear her best friend and teammate Penelope Park honk at her from her car.

“Yo, superstar…” she yelled out at Hope as soon as she got out of the vehicle and ran up to her. “What got you so distracted? Didn’t you hear me honking?”

“Sorry, Pen… I was reading something,” Hope told her startled and quickly closed the Messenger application before her best friend could look at her phone.

“You? Reading? Damn, don’t tell me you’re really becoming like those nerds Mr. V. forced you to work with,” Penelope said surprised and then laughed at the other girl, making Hope a little bit annoyed because she didn’t think they were that bad and she was having fun, especially with Josie. Of course, Penelope had no idea that her best friend was becoming so close with the other girl and Hope wanted it to stay that way. If she had found out, the auburn-haired girl wouldn’t hear the end of it and Penelope would probably try to make her stop communicating with Josie.

“Hope, something came up at work. I have to go,” Klaus suddenly came back out and said to his daugher. “You finished your free throws I’m assuming since you’re hanging out with your friend?” he asked her and Hope just nodded her head, informing her father that way that she had finished what he asked of her. It was a total lie, but she didn’t really care. There was no way for him to find out anyway.

“Hey there, Mr. Mikaelson! Nice seeing you again,” Penelope said and waved at her best friend’s father like she didn’t even care how scary he looked at that moment. He was a man of power and had a lot of influence, but it just didn’t seem to affect Penelope at all. Klaus just grunted without saying anything else and went inside his car, then drove off to work quickly. “I’ve always liked your dad!” Penelope then said sarcastically and sat next to Hope on the vacant chair.

“Why are you here by the way?” the auburn-haired girl asked her best friend curiously and Penelope rolled her eyes before nudging her in the stomach once.

“Do I need a reason to come see you? I’m hurt… You make me feel unwanted, Hopey! Tsk, tsk, tsk…” Penelope replied with a dramatic voice afterwards while she had her hand placed over her heart. “I’m gonna cry…”

“Oh shut up…” Hope then said and started laughing because the other girl was being hilarious as usual.

“Alright, alright… I came to get you. Let’s go shoot some pool,” Penelope explained the real reason why she was there. Aside from basketball, the two really loved playing pool.

“Sure. Let me just go take a quick shower because I’m so damn sweaty. I’ve been playing basketball for hours, unlike someone…” Hope looked at her best friend, hinting at her that she needed to train more.

“Yeah, yeah… Stop reminding me,” Penelope said and rolled her eyes, dreading the fact that Hope was right and she did have to start working harder on her basketball skills or else she might be kicked off the team.

Hope grabbed a towel a few seconds later, put it around her neck, and headed inside her house. Penelope followed right behind her and made herself at home in the Mikaelson family’s residence.

“I’ll be fast. Don’t worry,” Hope reassured her teammate and disappeared up the stairs, leaving Penelope alone on the first floor.

* * *

“Watch and learn how it’s done, Hopey!” Penelope told her best friend and got into the right shooting position, leaning her body forward like a professional player. She did everything in the most perfect way possible while Hope just watched her with an unimpressed expression on her face as the other girl pocketed the 8th ball.

“Yeah, yeah… Be happy because you beat me. But the score is still tied at two, so be ready. I’ll beat your ass in the next game!” Hope told her and smirked, not minding that she lost at all. This made Penelope go completely insane because she hated when her best friend acted all cool and collected. She was way too competitive while Hope not so much, which was a surprise because Penelope was the one who was too lazy to train when it came to basketball. You would expect a competitive type like her to train all the time, but she didn’t. She did hate losing a lot, though. Overall, the girl was very weird.

“Why hello there, girls! You up for some fun with us?” a random hot guy suddenly asked as he walked up to the two best friends with another boy behind him.

“What kind of fun are you guys suggesting?” Penelope asked, her voice becoming a bit flirty and seductive.

“Mmm, let’s play a game of pool and if you two lose, we go back to our place to party,” the guy answered, his body really close to Penelope’s. The girl didn’t mind at all because she was used to flirting with random strangers. “What do you say?”

“I’m in. How about you, Hopey?” the girl said with a smirk on her face and then turned to her best friend, waiting for her answer impatiently. But Hope just shook her head, hinting that she didn’t really want to do it.

“Well if your friend doesn’t want to, maybe we can just skip the game and directly go to our place with just you? How about it, hot stuff?” the guy continued speaking, making Penelope melt with his manly voice. She was such a sucker for boys that anyone could practically get in her pants. This didn’t exclude girls, though. She loved them too and would occasionally hook up with some random chicks when she felt like it.

“Pen, I don’t think this is a good idea. Remember what happened last time?” Hope jumped in, trying to remind her best friend about the time she hooked up with a random guy and almost got pregnant because they didn’t use protection.

“I know, Hopey, but don’t worry. These boys seem nice…” Penelope argued but Hope rolled her eyes and pulled her best friend away from the guy.

“Listen, just trust me, okay? Don’t do this…” the auburn-haired girl told her and Penelope sighed in annoyance.

“Fine, mom… Jeez, don’t get all mad or whatever…” she then said and turned to the boys before telling them that they would have fun some other time.

Honestly, Hope thought that Penelope was so immature and irresponsible sometimes. She didn’t know what the girl would to without her. Maybe she’d wind up pregnant or with an STD if it wasn’t for Hope looking out for her.

“But we can have so much fun together… Ugh, so lame…” the guy then said, a little annoyed because he and his friend thought they would hook up with Penelope that night. “Come on, why do you even listen to that bitch?” The guy continued trying to convince the girl, but the moment she heard what offensive word he called Hope, Penelope snapped.

“Hey! Don’t call my best friend that!” she yelled out, defending the other girl.

“Don’t make me hit you, you stupid whore…” His friend suddenly jumped into the conversation, threatening Penelope. He probably had some anger management issues because he seemed a bit… unstable.

“You two guys, get out of here right now or I’m calling the police,” a woman’s voice was suddenly heard and in just a few moments, a short blonde woman appeared in between them. She was obviously an employee there at the pool club. “We don’t tolerate such behavior here…”

“Whatever… We’ll leave. This place is too lame for us anyway!” the guy just scoffed. And with that, the two left, annoyed by the whole experience and vowing to each other never to step foot in that place again…

* * *

Thanks to Penelope, Hope unfortunately got home later than expected that night. She was praying that both her parents weren’t there, but no such luck. Her mother and father were sitting at the dinner table, waiting for her and her brother. Their expressions looked furious and Hope became really nervous and afraid as soon as she noticed them.

“Why are you thirty minutes late?” her mother asked with a stern voice as soon as her daughter stepped inside the dining-room, making the girl’s whole body shake in fear.

“I’m sorry, mother. Me and Penelope were caught in a traffic jam,” Hope managed to make up some lie about why she was late. The real reason was that Penelope wouldn’t stop talking about random shit that she and Hope had lost track of time. But she couldn’t tell her mother an idiotic reason like that.

“I see. Sit down then and eat. Don’t be late next time,” Hayley told her daughter, her voice still stern and angry.

Klaus Mikaelson, on the other hand, didn’t say anything but just grunted in displeasure and picked up his expensive mobile phone to check the latest news regarding the company and his family’s reputation. Of course, his expression immediately changed into an even more displeased one as soon as he saw that the Greasley family had made a lot of money recently.

“What’s wrong, honey?” Hayley asked her husband, who still continued staying silent and didn’t bother to give her a reply. A few seconds later, still without saying a word, he just stood up from the table and went inside the bedroom.

Hope sighed in annoyance because she knew that their family’s reputation was at risk again or something and that’s why her father was acting this way. _Typical…_ she thought and just continued eating.

It was just the girl and her mother left at the table, eating dinner in silence. Hope didn’t want to say anything to the woman, while Hayley got upset at her husband and didn’t feel like talking at all.

Suddenly, they heard the front door unlock. Marcel was back home and he was very very late. He was acting, though, as if he wasn’t, and just walked inside the dining-room after he had hung his jacket up and had taken his shoes off.

The boy then greeted his mother and sister, went to go wash up and came back to have dinner with them afterwards. Hayley didn’t scold her son about being late at all. She didn’t even mention it, which made Hope extremely annoyed. Her brother got away with absolutely everything and the unfair treatment drove her crazy. _Who cares that he will inherit the company? Why doesn’t he get yelled at like I do? I’m going to be a basketball star. Why don’t I get any special treatment?! God, this is so unfair…_ Hope thought as she continued eating in silence. She couldn’t wait until she graduates and finally leaves this damn house.

“I’m done eating. I’ll go to my room now,” the girl said as soon as she finished her food and attempted to leave the dining-room without picking up her plate and utensils.

“Wait! Are you just going to leave this mess? Go wash them…” Hayley let her anger and frustration out on Hope, making the girl feel absolutely terrible because her brother never had to do any of that. He was always the special child who didn’t have to lift a finger at all. Still, she loved him dearly because he’s her brother after all.

With a sad expression, Hope then obeyed her mother’s orders as usual, without complaining about anything…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate all your comments, kudos and everything. I love to hear what you guys think of the story. ^-^


	4. Rehearsal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hosie time all~ <3

Josie Saltzman was sitting in the perfect position behind her small classroom desk and was listening very carefully to the History teacher explain the American Revolution. Her shoulders and back were straight while her two arms were stretched out over the wooden board that was in front of her. This was the proper way for a person to sit in class and Josie was used to doing it ever since her first day at school. Her mother had made sure to teach her to sit properly, so the girl was stuck with this habit. Even if she wanted to, she just couldn’t sit in a different way in class because her mother’s words would just ring in her ear and make her shift in her seat to switch her position. 

Josie was trying hard to concentrate and pay attention so she could remember absolutely everything that the teacher was telling the class. It was essential for her to know this stuff because it would be included in the upcoming test. Plus, her mother would probably kill her if she didn’t know that the American Revolution began in the year 1765 and what kind of taxes were imposed afterwards. 

“When the war finally ended in 1783, there was a period of prosperity,” the teacher, Mrs. Tig, told the class full of bored teenagers and smiled while looking at Josie, most probably her favourite student. “Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Now let’s proceed with returning your History reports.” After saying that, the teacher then moved to her desk and took out about thirty or forty papers from her bag.

“How important is this grade, Mrs. Tig?” some guy asked from the back of the room. “Will I be able to pass if I get an F on this report?”

Everyone began laughing as soon as they heard him say that while Josie stood silent and shook her head.  _How dumb do you have to be to get an F on such an easy report? You can just copy something off the Internet and it will be enough._ Sometimes, she felt like she was in a class full of morons. That was true to some extent, because most of the people in the room were idiots and those that weren’t were very far from Josie’s level. The girl missed competition at times, but at others, she liked being the smartest in class, even though, being 1 st came with a huge deal of pressure. Everyone expected so much from her that it was very overwhelming at a lot of times.

“It’s 30% of your grade, people…” Mrs. Tig said loudly and started walking around the room with the pile of papers, giving each student theirs. “Some of your reports were very disappointing, while others were excellent.” The woman said that last part while looking at Josie, making the girl smile in satisfaction. 

When she received her report, Josie noticed the huge red “A+” plastered at the upper right corner of the front page and stared at it for a couple of seconds. She had worked very hard to make this paper perfect. The girl didn’t use the Internet and wrote the whole thing herself which was amazing. She definitely deserved a medal for that. 

“Mrs. Tig, what lessons await us in the next couple of weeks?” Josie asked the teacher curiously, making the woman smile once again. She loved when her students were interested in the material they were studying. 

“We’ll be moving on to Germany in the next lesson and after that France. If you want, I can send you the syllabus, Josie?” Mrs. Tig answered cheerfully and her smile widened even more. 

“That would be great!” Josie replied, making almost everyone in the class roll their eyes. Some people really disliked the girl because she was the typical teacher’s pet, but they tried not to make their feelings evident or else they’d get in trouble. 

“I will do that tonight. Anyway, after you’ve all seen your grades, let’s get back to more important matters,” Mrs. Tig said while leaning against her desk and crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Would anyone like to speak about the lesson from last week?”

At the mention of that, Josie felt her whole body stiffen and her heart rate increase. They were talking about Russia during the 18 th century but she didn’t really prepare that well because she was too busy with the project for the Economics Forum. This would end badly for her if the teacher and her classmates catch her unprepared. Josie just prayed to God that the teacher doesn’t ask her to speak.  _Please, not me. Please… _

She looked so nervous and practically felt sweat start dripping from her whole body. What she was trying to do was to not look her teacher in the eyes. That’s why she stared at the textbook in front of her, looking at all the sentences written on it but not even thinking about their meaning. She just blankly stared and wished her name wouldn’t be called by Mrs. Tig. 

Unfortunately though, Josie was obviously out of luck that day and her fear became reality. 

“Since nobody is willing to speak up, Josie, would you please do us the honor?” the teacher asked her student nicely, her voice filled with joy because she always loved hearing the girl speak about the amazing subject that is History. 

“Uhh, yeah… Sure. No problem,” Josie replied nervously and took a look at the first sentence in the textbook. “So, in the first half of the 18th century, in Russia, Peter changed the rules of succession to the throne after the death of his son which opposed his father's reforms and served as a figure for the anti-reform groups.” The girl tried to look at the textbook again after saying this, but she was so nervous that she just couldn’t. “Then uhh, there was a new law...” Josie really couldn’t remember anything about what this new law was and what it allowed, so she stood quiet and was thinking really hard. _I read this, but why can’t I remember it?! Aghh, damn it… _The girl was cursing herself in her mind for being way too involved in the project for the Economics Forum. 

“I’m surprised, Josie. What is going on? You’re usually always prepared for our lessons…” Mrs. Tig said in front of the whole class, making Josie feel like a complete failure. 

“I apologize. I don’t know this lesson very well because I didn’t have enough time to study,” Josie explained with a shaky voice. She felt like such a disappointment to her teacher at that moment that she wanted to die. It was killing her from the inside and she just couldn’t wait for the bell to ring so she could just leave. 

“I understand. Well, we’re all human after all. We can’t be perfectly prepared for everything all the time,” Mrs. Tig just told the girl, but Josie could feel the disappointment in her voice. What made things worse was the fact that Josie’s classmates started whispering between one another. She knew that they were discussing her and how this was the first time she wasn’t prepared for class. It made her feel so terrible that she wanted to leave even more. _Come on, just 10 more minutes, you idiot. Keep it together for 10 more minutes… _Josie told herself in her mind and gripped the edges of her desk while her legs were nervously shaking under it. 

These 10 minutes felt like forever for the girl but they eventually passed and she quickly ran out of the room without saying anything to anyone. Josie then went inside the nearest bathroom and began spraying water all over her face while looking at herself in the mirror. She hated this, all the expectations everyone had of her. This need to be perfect all the time drove her crazy. It wasn’t enough that her parents expected it from her, but her teachers and classmates too. It was frustrating and the pressure was so huge that it overwhelmed the girl. Sometimes, she just wanted to run away so that all her problems would instantly disappear. 

As Josie was standing there and looking at her own reflection, she suddenly felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out of there and glanced at the screen immediately afterwards. One new message was what was written on the screen.

**Hope ****Mikaelson****:** **Hey, where are you? I’m pretty bored. Want to meet up or something? =))**

A smile immediately appeared on Josie’s face as soon as she read the message from Hope. Honestly, she couldn’t explain it, but the girl could always make her feel better for some reason. 

**Josie Saltzman: I’m in the bathroom, but let’s meet up behind the school building, okay? ^^ **

She quickly sent her the reply and received a new message from Hope immediately after that, as if the other girl was just waiting for her text message. 

Josie sprayed some water on her face once more and then quickly got out of the bathroom. She then quickly made her way to the place where she and Hope said they’d meet up. Surprisingly, the other girl was there already and was waiting for her, walking back and forth. As soon as the two’s eyes met, Hope ran up to Josie and just hugged her out of nowhere, which the other girl found strange but enjoyable nonetheless. She knew that they had become close over the course of two weeks, but they’ve hugged probably three or four times, so she wasn’t really used to the closeness yet. Hope didn’t have that problem, though, because she’s usually pretty touchy once she gets close to somebody. 

After the two pulled away from each other, both of them smiled and sat down on the stone steps next to them. The place they were at was very quiet because nobody besides them was there. Usually, the kids who smoke would go there, but that was during the twenty minute break or after school, or when they skip class obviously. At other times, it was practically empty, though. 

“So, this might sound kinda weird, but I’m really glad I was failing in school…” Hope started speaking without looking at Josie’s face. She was just staring ahead and giggling a little bit as she spoke.

“You’re the first person I’ve heard say that,” the other girl told her and turned her head towards Hope so she could look at her. To be honest, Josie thought that Hope looked a bit mesmerizing. She was wearing her basketball uniform and appeared as a badass jock, but the look on her face, her eyes, it all just gave her real feelings away. They made her look soft and gentle, which was something Josie liked a lot. It made her want to become even closer to Hope because of that. “Should I be concerned?” Josie then continued speaking a second or so later and giggled. 

“No, no… Nothing to worry about. I promise. It’s just, now that I think about it, if I hadn’t been failing, I would’ve never been asked to join the group for the Economics project and…” Hope began explaining but then paused so she could turn her head and look at Josie’s face. With a smile and kind of low raspy voice, she then finished her sentence, “I wouldn’t have met you.”

For some reason, Hope’s words made Josie feel a bit weird. But not in the bad way. It was definitely the good kind of weird. This was the first time that somebody had told her something like this and she could genuinely see that Hope was happy because she was in her life. 

“Then I guess it’s fate then. You know that everything happens for a reason, right? Maybe there was a reason that we met like this,” Josie then told the other girl after that and looked away, breaking eye contact between them.

“Yeah, maybe…” Hope just uttered and then looked away as well.

For the rest of the break between classes, the two girls continued talking about random things and were laughing. It was completely obvious that they enjoyed each other’s company a lot. Josie felt way better afterwards and she had forgotten all about what happened in History class or about all the pressure she was under. Hope made her feel relaxed and carefree, something that no one else could really do. Not even  MG who was her damn best friend. But it didn’t really matter to Josie at that moment. The  boy was probably off eating somewhere for all she cared. The only thing she could think of at that time was how good she was feeling while spending time with Hope.

Eventually, the two heard the bell ring which meant that they had to go back to class. After walking back inside the school building and hugging each other for goodbye, they then split up and went to their separate classes. But one thing was different since before the break. Now they were both happy and felt like nothing could ruin the good mood they were in. 

* * *

“Okay, let’s rehearse the presentation again. I’ll reset the timer,” Josie told her teammates for the Economics project as she grabbed her phone. They were all gathered inside her bedroom to practice because the competition was in about a week.

One way to introduce a company at the LA Forum is through a presentation, which was one of the things that Josie and her team had prepared. Of course, that wasn’t everything. They also made a few advertisement videos, brochures and other materials to show the judges there. The whole team thought that everything would definitely impress the committee and competitors. 

“Tell us when to begin!” Maya said with a determined voice and moved a bit closer to Dana. The two were the ones doing the PowerPoint presentation because the whole team had agreed that they would be the best to handle that task. 

For the project, everyone had stuff assigned to them. Josie, being the project coordinator of course, was calling the shots about who did what, but she would still ask if they were on board with her decisions. If the people didn’t want to do it, she’d try assigning to someone else, but usually there were no problems since everyone would always agree with her decisions. 

“Go!” Josie informed the two girls when to begin after hitting the timer’s start button and Maya immediately began speaking.

“Grand Hotel JTX is one of the oldest ones in the country. It’s been around for so many years and a lot of famous historical figures had stayed inside its rooms…” the girl said and then moved on to the next slide. Josie and everyone else definitely thought that she nailed the intro this time. 

Two or three minutes pass with Maya and Dana speaking one after the other. They were totally saying everything perfectly and the whole team thought that things couldn’t go any better. But of course, something had to mess it all up because nothing can be 100% perfect. 

“Kids, do you want some ice cream?” Caroline stormed inside the room without any warning, ruining everything. 

“Mom, not now! We’re rehearsing…” Josie yelled at her mother, but Maya interrupted her by saying, “Oh come on, we’ve been practicing this for two hours now. We deserve a little break. Cut your mom some slack…”

“See, Josie. You should listen to your friends more…” Caroline said and smiled at Maya, thanking her for defending her while Josie just gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in anger. No one except Hope noticed how the girl’s expression changed immediately and how awful she was feeling. That’s why she was the only one to put a hand on Josie’s shoulder to calm her down a bit.

The older woman then began handing out ice cream for everyone. All of them except her daughter thanked her, which Caroline found incredibly embarrassing but she didn’t say anything. She’d address this issue later when everyone leaves. 

“So, how’s the presentation going? Anything I can help with? I’m sure that I can give you many suggestions!” Caroline asked and Dana was about to start explaining and ask the woman for her opinion, but Josie quickly cut in and said, “It’s going great, mom. No need for help. We’re doing just fine on our own.”

“Oh come on, your mom’s opinion wouldn’t be that bad, right?” Rafael jumped into the conversation and Josie threw him a death glare.

The next hour was absolutely hell for the girl because Caroline was butting into everything, giving suggestions and ideas, which was driving Josie absolutely insane. She just couldn’t wait until everything was over. _ I swear, I’m not inviting them over for rehearsal here again… _ That was what she was thinking throughout the whole damn hour. 

When that painful hour finally passed and her teammates later left, Josie had a huge fight with her mother about keeping her nose out of her goddamn business. 

“Why are you always butting in? Why can’t you just once stay out of something I do? Would that be so hard?” Josie yelled and tears began streaming down her face. 

“Don’t you talk to me with that tone, young lady! I’m just trying to help you out because your project obviously needs improving…” Caroline raised her voice at her daughter while pointing a finger at her. 

“It was perfectly fine, mother!” Josie continued, not giving up on arguing. Unfortunately though, her mother couldn’t give her a reply because their fight was interrupted by the sudden ring of the doorbell. 

“Wait here. We’ll continue this later!” Caroline ordered and went to see who’s at the door. When she opened it, the woman was greeted by Hope Mikaelson and immediately recognized that it was one of her daughter’s friends. “Can I help you?” she asked the short girl with a slightly pissed voice. 

“I’m sorry to bother you but I forgot my phone in Josie’s room,” Hope explained the reason why she was there.

“Oh, of course. I’ll tell Josie to get it. Just wait right here…” Caroline replied and then disappeared inside the living room to tell her daughter about this situation. In about a minute or so, Josie appeared at the door and handed Hope her phone, apologizing for her mother’s behavior. 

“I’m sorry. My mom’s a real bitch sometimes…” the girl told her friend and Hope just shook her head, telling her not to apologize and that she gets it because her parents are kind of the same. 

“Relax. Just a few more years and you’ll be out of here and off to university,” Hope reassured the girl, making Josie smile and feel a lot better._ She always has such a good effect on me…_ Josie thought as she looked at Hope and was thankful to have her in her life. “Thanks for the phone by the way. I’ll try not to forget it next time.”

“You’re only allowed to forget it at my place, so you can come back looking for it again and we can see each other,” Josie told her and began laughing. Hope did the same and at that moment, the two had forgotten everything about what happened with Caroline. 

“You got it!” Hope just told Josie after the laughter died down. “By the way, do you want to come to my house tonight for a sleepover? My parents and brother are out. I’d prefer it if I had someone to keep me company.”

“Mmmm, I’d love too. I’ll tell my mother. Pray to god that she doesn’t make a big deal out of this,” Josie replied and disappeared inside the living room to inform her mother. By some miracle, the woman actually agreed. Maybe she was tired of fighting with Josie, who knows, but she let her stay at Hope’s for the night. 

A few minutes later, Josie packed some stuff for the sleepover and when she was done, she headed out without saying anything to her mother. Caroline thought that it was definitely disrespectful but she’d deal with Josie tomorrow. 

As both girls made their way to Hope’s house afterwards, they were extremely happy that they would get to spend some time alone together without their parents breathing down their necks… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the double update. <3 I'd love to hear what you think of the story so far.


	5. Movie time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hosie fluff, peopleee~~~ <3

Hope led Josie inside her huge fancy house with a wide smile on her face. The girl was hers for the entire night and she felt absolutely ecstatic because of that. This feeling she had when she was with Josie was different than when she was spending time with Penelope or any of her other friends. She couldn’t really figure out exactly what it meant but that didn’t really matter to her because it was good. Hope felt amazing while spending time with Josie and wished that she could be with her all the time. The girl understood her on so many different levels like no one else had ever had before, so Hope felt like she had to do anything in her power to not mess this relationship they had going for them. 

“So, home alone, huh? Got any big plans for us?” Josie asked her friend with a teasing voice and nudged her playfully. 

Hope then suddenly stopped walking and spun around to look at the other girl. She had this devilish grin plastered on her face, making Josie raise an eyebrow in confusion. Hope then suddenly turned the light off so everything would be pitch black and opened some drawer in the corridor that was really close to her. After grabbing something from inside, Hope pushed Josie against the wall and moved her lips closer to the girl’s ear. Josie felt the hot breath on her skin and it immediately sent shivers down her spine. Her heart began beating faster and at one point it was like it would burst out of her chest. She had no idea what was happening at that moment and what Hope had planned. Josie then suddenly felt something touch her neck and closed her eyes in fear. The girl hated when she didn’t know what was going on. Being afraid wasn’t something she was a fan of, especially when it was because of something unexpected.

“Oh yes. I have very big plans for us, Josie…” Hope whispered against the girl’s ear, making Josie’s whole body shake in fear. The way she spoke was like some kind of psychopath or something that was going to kill her any moment. 

About a second or two later, Hope turned the lights on and began laughing her butt off. Josie opened her eyes finally as soon as she heard the other girl. She was then greeted by a DVD disk being pushed close to her face.  _What the hell?_ Josie thought and still had no idea what was going on. 

“Hope, what in the world are you doing? What is this?” she asked a few seconds later in confusion as Hope continued laughing.

“We’re gonna watch a movie, silly…” the other girl replied and continued laughing. “Scared you there for a second, didn’t I?”

“Ugh, you’re so awful. Why would you scare me like that?” Josie said a bit angrily and pouted. She then felt tears start forming in her eyes which didn’t go unnoticed by Hope.

“I’m sorry, Jo… I’m just messing with you. Hey, please don’t cry…” Hope then told her and wrapped her arms around Josie’s body. “I’m sorry, okay? I really am. Please, forgive me.”

Hope was being way too adorable and eventually Josie gave in. She just couldn’t resist the girl’s cuteness. 

“Fine, I forgive you. Just don’t do it again. You really scared me…” Josie told her without looking at her face and Hope’s smile grew as soon as she heard her words. 

“I promise that I won’t do it again…” the girl reassured Josie and then let go of her. “Now let’s go watch a movie. But not from this DVD because I just randomly grabbed it. Let’s download something good off the Internet.” 

The two then walked inside the living-room and Hope immediately went to get her laptop. When she did, she connected it to the TV and said, “ Jo , would you mind searching for a good movie while I order us some food?”

“Sure,” Josie replied and turned the laptop towards herself. “What are you going to order by the way?”

“I was thinking about pizza. How does that sound?” Hope told the other girl with a smile on her face as she started looking through her phone for a good website where they could order the food from. 

“That sounds great. Just tell them not to put any cucumbers on the pizza. I hate those green disgusting things,” Josie informed her friend about her dislike for the vegetable and Hope just nodded, indicating that she understood. 

A few minutes later, the food was ordered, so Hope sat down on the couch next to Josie and began looking at the laptop’s screen while the girl was browsing for a movie. 

“Oh, oh… How about this one? Britt Robertson stars in it! I really love her,” Hope suddenly said while Josie was scrolling down the web page. 

“Hmmm, Family Tree… That doesn’t sound bad. It’s a comedy and drama which I approve. The description is gripping, so I think I will like it. Also, Britt Robertson looks absolutely gorgeous. Great! I’m gonna download it,” Josie said while nodding her head which Hope found absolutely adorable because this was the first time she had met someone so analytical when it came to movies. She thought that was very interesting and said a lot about Josie’s character which made her like her even more. 

A few minutes later, the movie was downloaded and Josie hit the “Play” button. After that was taken care of, both girls leaned back on the couch and relaxed, ready for an hour and a half of funny scenes. 

“Wait! Why are there Japanese subtitles?” Hope suddenly asked when they were about 5 minutes into the movie. 

“Oh shit… I’m sorry. I’m just used to downloading them. I’m trying to keep my Japanese sharp,” Josie apologized to the girl and paused the movie quickly. She had learned Japanese when she was younger because her mother made her take classes of course, but since they live in America, she doesn’t have much opportunity to practice speaking the language, so she would usually download subtitles when watching movies. 

“What was it like by the way? Learning Japanese, I mean…” Hope asked while Josie was extracting the file. 

“Mmm, pretty hard. I think I remember writing so many words. I was really young, though,” Josie began explaining, “My tutor lived near my grandparents in L.A. so I studied it there during the summer. Me and my grandparents would also travel to other places as well. We would go outside of the US and the atmosphere there is just very different, you know? Especially in Europe, but it doesn’t compare to LA. I can’t wait until we go there for the Economics Forum.”

“Woah, that sounds so amazing. You’ve learned Japanese and travelled, damn...” Hope told the girl and chuckled. “Too bad you were very young and don’t remember much from LA. I wanted you to be my personal tour guide in LA, since I’ve never been there myself?”

“Don’t worry. I can still take you to all the cool places. We’ve got Google Maps, so we won’t get lost. I promise that I’ll try my best to be the most awesome tour guide there is!” Josie said and threw a wink at the other girl’s way. 

“I have no doubt in my mind!” Hope giggled at Josie’s behavior. She thought that her determination was very adorable.

A few seconds later, the girls were back to watching to movie. They sat next to each other on the couch and occasionally threw each other weird looks at some moments because they were pretty unrealistic. 

“Dude, there’s no way that that can happen in real life!” Josie said loudly when the scene with the mother falling in the bathroom came up and then at the doctor’s office. “Like, come on… She barely hit her head. How can she get amnesia?”

“It’s a comedy, Jo. Maybe the producers thought that this would make the movie funnier or something,” Hope told her and laughed at her friend’s reaction. 

“Fine, fine… You’re probably right,” Josie just muttered and continued watching. She was getting so worked up over a movie that it was a little bit funny.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang and Hope knew that their pizza had arrived, so she quickly got off the couch. The girl then grabbed some money off the counter and went to the front door. Josie had paused the movie in the meantime because she didn’t want Hope to miss anything. Before she knew it, her friend was back in the living room with two boxes of pizza in her hands. She placed them on the table carefully and opened them while yelling the words “Let’s dig in!”

The next half hour went by without much talking because the two were eating the pizza and watching the movie with a lot of interest. It wasn’t as bad as it was in the beginning, so it kept their attention on the screen. They started talking a little while later when a certain scene came up. Britt Robertson’s character was in the girls’ bathroom in school, in one of the stalls, trying to smoke, even though it was against the rules, but she was a badass, so she didn’t really care. That’s when her female teacher walked inside with one of the girl’s classmates. “It’s okay,” Hope and Josie heard the woman on the screen say as she pulled the young student near the sink. Sitting on top of it, she then wrapped her legs around the girl’s waist and the two of them began kissing fiercely. Hope and Josie watched with their eyes wide with shock because this was the first time they’ve actually seen something like this. They’ve both watched many American movies but never even once did they come across one with a lesbian scene. Then the screen switched to Britt Robertson’s character and how she took a picture of her teacher and classmate making out. When the whole scene was over, Josie paused the movie and turned to Hope, then said, “Wow, I definitely did not expect that. Who would’ve thought that that girl was the teacher’s favourite because they were hooking up…” 

“Yeah, I know right. I’m so surprised as well,” Hope stated, her eyes still a bit widened. 

“What do you think about this by the way? Like, two girls being together,” Josie asked her afterwards with curiosity. She personally didn’t have any problem with it. In fact, she thought it was quite cool because it was different. Why shouldn’t girls be with other girls or guys with other guys? She thought that whoever made up this stupid rule of men being with women only was pretty closed-minded. 

“Well, to be honest, I’ve never really thought about it. I’ve always imagined having this super huge wedding in the future and marrying a guy,” Hope began explaining and Josie just nodded her head, listening carefully to the girl. “Obviously, though, I have no problem whatsoever with two girls being together. Love is love, so yeah…”

“Yes, I feel the same way,” Josie agreed with her friend, “I wonder if it’s different, though. I mean, being with a girl and kissing a girl.”

“I don’t know. Probably… I’ve only kissed guys, so I’m not sure,” Hope then said and raised her shoulders in uncertainty. “But I kind of believe that it doesn’t matter. It depends on the person. Gender is not really important when you think about it.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I don’t really have experience to back up that statement, though…” Josie told the other girl with a sad tone in her voice. “I’ve only kissed two guys so far many years ago and both times it was because of a dare. I’ve never had a boyfriend.”

“That’s not something to be ashamed about. It’s actually better because it makes you look like you’re serious about this and won’t hook up with just anyone,” Hope reassured Josie and placed a hand on her shoulder. This immediately made her feel a lot better. “I’ve had only one boyfriend, but we broke up because he cheated on me. I caught him with some slut in the girls’ locker room after practice. It was probably because I didn’t want to have sex with him and he got tired of me, so he just couldn’t keep it in his pants.”

“I’m so sorry, Hope…” Josie told her with a sympathetic tone and placed her own hand over Hope’s, caressing it gently with her thumb. How could anyone do something so horrible to such an amazing girl? It just made Josie’s blood boil. If it was her in the boy’s place, she would never cheat on Hope. In fact, she’d do anything she could to be with her forever because she’s the kind of person that’s worth spending your life with. At least, that’s what Josie thought of the girl. 

“Nah, it’s okay. I’m so over him, so I don’t really care anymore,” Hope just replied a few seconds later. She really was indifferent about the whole thing because a lot of time had passed since then. “Anyway, if you really want to know if it’s different, me and you can kiss if you like?”

“Are you serious right now? You really want us to… kiss?” Josie asked her and raised her eyebrows in surprise. With a smile on her face, Hope nodded, confirming that she was indeed a hundred percent certain about this. Once she saw that, Josie just said, “Well, okay then…”

Josie felt a bit nervous because this was her first kiss in a long time. She didn’t want to mess up and give Hope a bad experience. The other girl noticed that her friend was shaking a bit so she leaned closer and whispered in her ear, “Just relax, okay? It’s going to be alright.” 

After hearing those words, Josie indeed felt a bit better and a little more confident in herself. She nodded, telling the other girl that way that she understood. Hope then moved her face back a little bit and looked Josie in the eyes. Both of them felt their hearts beating hard at that moment because of what was going to happen. Hope leaned a little bit forward afterwards while closing her eyes. Josie did the same thing and soon after, she felt a pair of lips press against her own. It was different than the feeling which the girl remembered from many years ago when she kissed the boys. But different in a good way. It was… nice. 

Hope placed her hand on the girl’s neck and began moving her lips against hers. Josie mimicked the actions because honestly she didn’t know what else to do. The kiss was a little bit awkward and kind of weird, but both girls were enjoying it nonetheless. A minute or so later, Hope pulled away and looked at Josie with a smile on her face.

“Well? How was that?” she asked her friend who looked completely mesmerized. “Am I such a good kisser that you lost your ability to speak?” Hope giggled because of the state her friend was in.

“That was very nice,” Josie just uttered a few seconds later. “I enjoyed it. But… I wasn’t, like, bad… right?”

“No. You’re way better than my ex-boyfriend or the other guys I’ve kissed. They were all really rough when we kissed while your lips are soft and everything was very gentle. Honestly, I think you’re the best kisser out of the people I’ve kissed so far,” Hope explained and smiled at the girl.

“Really? Wow…” Josie said in surprise because she really couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Never in a million years did she think that something like this would happen to her. 

“Yeah. Now let’s go back to the movie or else it’s gonna take forever until we finish it,” Hope then stated and hit the space button on her laptop to start the movie again.

* * *

After the two finished their movie, they decided to go to Hope’s backyard to shoot some hoops or something. Josie had suggested it because she thought it would be fun. The girl had played a little basketball back in the USA when she was in the third grade, so she wasn’t all that bad at the sport. 

“Let’s make this a bit more interesting. What do you say we play a one on one and whoever wins will have to grant the other one a wish?” Hope asked with a smirk on her face as she dribbled the ball. 

“How about we shoot hoops with our eyes closed? We try ten times and whoever has the highest score in the end will win?” Josie suggested a different challenge and Hope hummed because the idea intrigued her. 

“You’re on!” she said a few seconds later and handed Josie the ball. 

The taller girl moved behind the two-point line and closed her eyes. She then got into the correct position, bended her legs, and did her first shot after that. It was unsuccessful unfortunately, but Josie wasn’t going to give up hope. After taking her other nine shots, Josie managed to get a score of five out of ten, which she thought wasn’t such a bad result. 

“Let’s see you beat that, superstar!” Josie teased Hope and then gave her the ball. With a smirk on her face, the other girl moved behind the two-point line just as her friend had done before that. She was pretty confident because she’s been doing so many free throws that it wasn’t a problem even if it was with her eyes closed. Her father had made her practice so much that she could make the ball go into the hoop probably from pretty much anywhere on the basketball field. 

As expected, Hope’s first shot was successful. The one after that was as well, making Josie a little bit worried that she’s going to lose. In the end, Hope managed to get every single shot go in, making the other girl look at her in disbelief. 

“I guess you owe me a wish now, huh?” the shorter girl said with a teasing voice and nudged her friend playfully. 

“I guess I do,” Josie replied and smiled at Hope, “You beat me fair and square.” She wasn’t going to be a sore loser, so she accepted her defeat like an adult. “So? What is your wish?”

“Mmmm, I’ll think about it. There’s no need to rush,” Hope told her friend with a smirk on her face. She then moved towards Josie and planted a little kiss on her cheek. After that she began walking towards the backdoor of her house, leaving Josie dumbfounded for a few seconds. After she realized what happened, the girl turned around and followed her friend inside, her stomach a bit giddy because of Hope’s behavior. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very grateful for all your comments, kudos and everything, guys! <3 I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. It's gonna get more fluffy from here on.


	6. Unexpected Obstacle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter before they head out to L.A. for the competition. ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

As the week passed by, the pressure of school and the Economics project became even greater for Josie. It also didn’t help that she was fighting with her mother even more often than usual. Caroline couldn’t accept the fact that her daughter was defying her on many occasions and she tried even harder to control her. Josie was just counting down the days until they leave for L.A. and get everything over with. She was so fed up with the constant worrying at all times during the day about what is going to happen at school, with her mother at home and during the competition, that she felt as if she would go crazy. The girl often found herself lying in bed curled up in a ball and crying because everything was too overwhelming. The only times she wasn’t feeling that way were when she was either with Hope or her best friend MG. They both somehow managed to just make her forget about her problems, so she decided to spend as much time with them as she could. Mostly with Hope because she always had this constant urge to see her and talk to her. 

“So, did you replace me?” MG asked her best friend with a serious tone in his voice as they were walking home from school. He didn’t look the girl in the eyes as he spoke but instead just stared straight ahead.

“What? What do you mean by that?” Josie was very confused and didn’t know where this question MG asked her came from at all. 

“Well, you’ve been hanging out with Hope Mikaelson a lot lately, so I was just wondering if she’s your new best friend now or something…” the boy voiced his concern and Josie laughed out loud because everything she was hearing sounded so ridiculous. 

“Are you kidding me? Dude, you know I’d never do that. Only you are entitled to be called my best friend. No one else,” Josie explained while still laughing. “Now stop thinking bullshit and put some music on. It’s too quiet here.” 

MG smiled because she was satisfied with  his best friend’s answer and quickly took out  his phone. After plugging  his headphones in and giving one to Josie,  he then opened Spotify and searched for some song that  he knew both  he and Josie liked a lot. A few seconds later, both of them could hear  it  begin playing, making each of them smile.

As they then continued walking, MG sang along to the song without caring if the people that passed them on the street thought  he was insane. Josie just shook her head at the  boy ’s action, but the smile never left her face.  _You’re one crazy _ _guy_ _, Milton Greasley. But you’re my best friend and I love you no matter what…_

When Josie got home about two hours later that day, she walked inside the apartment while still grinning like an idiot. She had spent about an hour and a half talking with MG at their usual spot because they didn’t want to part ways yet. The place wasn’t anything special really. It was at a bench near some building where they’d usually sit down and talk before they’d have to go their separate ways because they live in different parts of the neighborhood – MG in the far west side while Josie’ s at the other end. It wasn’t that far if you were to look at it on Google Maps. They live about 20 minutes away from each other if they walk. 

Josie placed her shoes in a small cupboard in the corridor and then walked straight inside her bedroom, greeting only her sister  Lizzie and not her mother when she passed through the living-room. She didn’t even look at Caroline at all, as if she didn’t exist. This made the older woman angry and she obviously wouldn’t let it slide. So Caroline then made her way to Josie’s room right after her daughter and said with an annoyed tone, “Can you be a little more respectful towards me?” 

“Why should I? You don’t show any respect for me. You always tell me what to do without giving a damn what I want,” Josie yelled at her mother, her mood now completely different than the one from before. Caroline just stood there and stared at her daughter’s tear-filled eyes without saying anything. “I understand that you have this future laid out for me and you want to do everything you can to help me turn it into reality, but you’re just making things worse with always meddling in. Can you please just let me do things myself for once?”

“I’m just trying to help you, honey, you know that…” Caroline said a few seconds later, her voice now completely different than the one from a minute ago when she had stormed into the room. You could actually say that it’s gentle, like a mother’s voice is supposed to sound. The woman then sat down on Josie’s bed next to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her child’s body, embracing the girl. “I’m sorry if I went overboard. I just want you to succeed in everything you do.”

Josie then began crying while her face was buried in her mother’s neck. Caroline was gently stroking her daughter’s back in order to comfort her. She really felt like she went overboard this time, so she’d try to back off a little and trust that Josie would be fine. 

This was the first time in a long while that they’ve had a moment like this and it was nice. Josie had missed this, having a kind and caring mother and not a control freak. But she knew that this wouldn’t last long. In a day or two, her mother would be back to her usual ways. That’s how it always has been between them. Still, she’d enjoy this for as long as it lasted anyway. 

A couple of minutes later, Caroline left Josie alone in her bedroom to have some time to herself. The girl changed her clothes and washed up quickly, then went to lie down on her bed. Afterwards, she grabbed her phone because she needed to check Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. She was completely and utterly obsessed with Social Media. Also, she wanted to see if she had a text message from a certain someone. When she unlocked it, she noticed that she indeed did have some unread messages from the person she wanted them to be  from  the most – Hope. There were also some in the group chat for the Economics project and from her best friend but she ignored them for now because she really wanted to see those from Hope. 

**Hope: Hey cutie! <3 Did you get home safe? ^^**

**Hope: I’m just checking because I want to make sure nothing bad happened to you after school. You know there are all kinds of psychos out there.**

**Hope: So yeah…**

**Hope: I’m texting too much again. Sorry about that… I’ll just wait for you to reply. :D :D **

A huge grin appeared on Josie’s face as soon as she saw what Hope had written. She found it rather adorable that the girl was checking up on her, even though she was worrying for nothing because nothing could really happen in broad daylight, but still.  _She’s such a dork…_

**Josie: I got home safe. Don’t worry, haha :D :D I was walking with my best friend, so the psychos couldn’t have done anything.**

**Josie: Well, unless they’re really mentally unstable and don’t care. :D **

**Josie: Anyway, don’t worry about flooding the chat with many messages. I don’t mind. ^-^ It’s kinda adorable actually.**

Josie sent three messages to the other girl in about less than a minute and received an immediate reply from her. 

**Hope: That’s good. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something had happened to you, you know? :D hahah.. **

Josie read that and her smile grew even wider, especially when Hope sent some really cute puppy sticker afterwards. She then began typing her next message.

**Josie: Everything’s fine. I’m not going anywhere. I promise! ;) <3 **

After she sent it, she continued typing and was about to send another one, but was interrupted unfortunately by Dana who was calling her on the phone. 

“Hey! What’s up?” Josie said as soon as she answered the call. 

“Hey, Jo. Are you free right now?” the girl asked from the other line. It sounded like she was in a hurry to do something or just nervous. 

“Uhh, yeah. I’m free. Why?” Josie told her with a confused tone and raised an eyebrow, then waited for the girl to speak again. 

“Well, I kind of messed up the poster for the project. I accidentally spilled some of my sister’s paint over it and now I can’t fix it. I don’t know what to do. I’m so sorry about this…” Dana explained, her voice shaking and other girl could feel how worried she was. 

_Just great…_ Josie thought and rolled her eyes.  _Another thing to worry about. _ Of course, everything had to go wrong in the last minute. They were leaving for L.A. in two days and there wasn’t really much time to make the poster again.  _Oh man, what are we going to do?_

“Okay, just stay calm… I will try to find the PSD file on my laptop and I will go to the printing office right after. Just pray that they work on a Saturday or else we’ll lose points in front of the committee at the competition,” Josie told her calmly, making Dana relax a bit. She knew that Josie would fix everything like always, so she had nothing to worry about. 

“Okay, thanks. I’m sorry again, Jo,” the girl apologized once more and a few seconds later, they both hung up. 

Josie checked her phone and saw that she had about 10 messages from Hope. When she began reading them, she smiled once more because they were absolutely adorable again. 

**Hope: You better not be. Or else I’ll do anything in my power to get you back, you know that right?**

**Hope: I have super powers! They don’t call me Super Hope for nothing! :D hahaha**

**Hope: Okay, no one actually calls me that, but w/e. :D **

**Hope: Btw things are really getting heated in the group chat for the Economics project. I think I might get some popcorn and watch the show. **

**Hope: Landon and Maya’s fights are hilarious sometimes, hahaha :D **

**Hope: Wtf is this? Dana said she ruined the poster. Oh shiiiiiit… She’s in big trouble. **

**Hope: Omg, she said she’s calling you so you could fix things. So that’s why you stopped replying, lol :D **

**Hope: You’re our savior, you know that? Maybe you’re the superhero here, not me! But what would be your name. Golden Star maybe? It suits you because you have a heart of gold and you’re like a star to other people - magical and magnificent.**

**Hope: heheheh ^-^ <3 **

**Hope: I’ll wait until you finish your conversation with Dana.**

_Golden Star? Seriously, this girl will be the death of me… _ Josie thought and chuckled a little while blushing. 

**Josie: You have no idea how cute you are right now. ;D <3 hahaha**

**Josie: btw Dana really ruined the poster a lot so I gotta find the PSD fast and see if the printing office works on Saturday… Idk what we’re gonna do if it doesn’t.**

Josie sighed as she told Hope about this and went on to look for the file on her laptop, searching both her storage disks for it. If only she could remember how she renamed it… 

After a couple of minutes, she actually did manage to find it and its name was something like “postrsfdffffb” or some weird shit like that. She had no idea how she found it but she did and that’s all that mattered. She connected her USB flash drive to her laptop and was about to transfer the file on it when she heard the familiar sound from Facebook, telling her that she had a new message. She quickly grabbed her phone and saw that Hope had sent her a text.

**Hope: My dad has a huge printer in his office at home, so you can come here and use it. There’s no need to go to the printing office. They’re not gonna work anyway on a Saturday… ^^**

Josie’s eyes grew wide when she read that message.  _Yes! We’re safe!_ She then began jumping up and down on the bed in excitement while quickly texting Hope that she’d be at her place in about half an hour. 

**Hope: Kay, cutie! I’ll be waiting for you… ;) <3**

After she read that message, Josie quickly got off the bed. She got ready as fast as she could, grabbed her bag and the USB flash drive after transferring the file, and then headed out immediately to go to Hope’s house.

* * *

“You seriously saved this project’s ass, Hope…” Josie told her friend and gave her a hug while they waited for the poster to be printed out. 

“The project doesn’t have an ass, you know that, right?” Hope said to the girl and chuckled as she kept her arms wrapped around her and inhaled her scent. She loved this position they were in at that moment and how good Josie’s body felt against hers. Let’s be honest, the girl was kind of addicted to hugs. Or maybe only to the ones Josie gave her.

“No! It does have one. But it’s imaginary!” Josie chuckled against Hope’s neck and pulled away from the girl a few seconds later.

When the printing was ready, both girls eyed the poster and were very satisfied with the final result. It looked the same as the last one, if not better than it. The colors were so good that both of them were completely mesmerized. It really did look absolutely amazing. 

“This is wonderful,” Hope uttered as she continued staring while Josie nodded in agreement. 

“Yes, it really is!” Josie said and then quickly pulled out her phone to take a picture of the poster so she could post it in the group chat. “Can you hold it still for a second while I take a photo?” the girl asked her friend and Hope nodded while holding the poster’s upper and lower side with her fingers so that it wouldn’t roll up. 

“Perfect!” Josie exclaimed as soon as she snapped the photo and sent it to the group chat. 

Everyone was amazed at the quality of the new poster and immediately thanked both girls for the job well done. 

**Dana: Bet you’re glad that I ruined the old one, huh? :D :D :D **

Josie saw Dana’s text and laughed out loud, startling Hope. 

“What happened?” the other girl asked curiously and peeked at her friend’s phone. As soon as she saw the text, she began laughing as well. The other messages that followed it were even funnier. 

**Landon: Stfu. Your ass is lucky that our captain saved the day!**

**Rafael** **: Yep. Idk what we would do without Josie on the team. Hahaha :D **

**Maya: Dana, you gotta treat us all to some food now! ;P**

**Dana: Why all of you? Why not just Jo and Hope? :O :/ **

**Maya: bcuz you messed up and need to repay all of us :D This could’ve ended badly for the whole team… You’ll just buy Hope and Jo something more expensive, hahaha :D **

**Dana: Fine, fine… -_- I’ll see what I can do. :D **

“Poor Dana…” Josie said and continued laughing. “Our teammates are brutal! They won’t let this one slide…”

“Yeah, definitely,” Hope agreed and began laughing alongside Josie. After the laughter died down a bit, Josie asked, “Are you home alone again by the way?”

“Yeah. I’m alone here a lot because my parents are almost always working and my brother is out with his friends,” Hope told her with a bit of a sad voice. It was kind of hard because she felt lonely. She’d often invite her best friend or the girl would ask her to hang out, but when she was busy, Hope felt awful since she didn’t have a lot to do at home.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I have some free time if you want to hang out now?” Josie suggested, making her friend smile upon hearing her words. 

“Yes, yes, yes!” Hope happily exclaimed and began jumping up and down in joy while throwing her arms in the air. 

“You’re adorable,” Josie just complimented her and chuckled. “What do you want to do?”

“Mmmm, let’s go out for a walk or something. I’m tired of being cooped up in this big house. I want some fresh air,” Hope whined and grabbed Josie’s hand, then began pulling her towards the exit. 

Once the girls were outside, they decided to go for a walk in the park that is near Hope’s house. It was pretty nice there and there weren’t many people that day which was good because that meant that it wasn’t noisy. 

“I can’t wait for Monday by the way. I want to be in L.A. already,” Hope told Josie as they were walking. 

“Yeah, me too. I bet the hotel’s gonna be amazing,” the other girl said and imagined her and Hope chilling in some jacuzzi or something 

“Oh yes, definitely! 10 out of 10 amazing!” Hope yelled out without caring that the two or three people that passed by her and Josie would think she’s insane.

“Shhh, Hope, keep your voice down. People are gonna think you’re crazy,” Josie scolded the girl and hit her playfully on the arm while chuckling. 

“I don’t care. I’m super excited right now! They can think whatever they want,” Hope stated with a smile on her face. 

“Alright, I’ll let you make a fool of yourself then,” Josie told her and laughed. As she was laughing, though, Hope grabbed the other girl’s phone from her hand and began running straight ahead through the grass. “Hope, what the hell are you doing? Give that back!”

“I’m not gonna embarrass myself alone. Come here if you want your phone back!” Hope yelled while backing away from her friend.

Josie began running towards her and attempted to take the phone, but Hope was too quick. She placed it in her pocket. Josie tried to reach in and take it, but the other girl tackled her to the ground. To Hope’s surprise, a few seconds later, Josie somehow flipped them so she’d be on top and managed to pin her by holding her arms tight. 

“I took some fighting lessons, don’t look so surprised,” Josie told her friend and winked as she hovered on top while Hope’s eyes widened in shock.

“Alright, alright… You win,” Hope gave in and Josie gave her a satisfactory smile. They were looking at each other’s eyes and their faces were so close that they could practically feel the other’s breath on their skin. For a moment there, it felt as if time had stopped. They were both completely mesmerized and so into the moment. The thought of them both kissing crossed each girl’s mind, but neither made the move for some reason. Maybe it was because of fear or uncertainty. They had no idea what kind of consequences could follow that action. That other kiss on Hope’s couch happened because they both had agreed to it. But with this one, if it were to happen, it would be different. If Josie were to just lean in and kiss Hope, she had no idea how the girl would react. She knew that her friend wasn’t against same-sex relationships but if she’s had a boyfriend before, then maybe she wasn’t into girls. Hell, Josie didn’t know if she even liked them either. The only thing she knew was that for some unknown reason, she wanted to kiss Hope again. She was scared of rejection, though, so in the end she just decided to back off. Pulling her face away from the girl’s, Josie then reached inside Hope’s pocket to retrieve her phone. Afterwards she stood up and looked at the girl that was lying on the ground before saying, “Come on. Let’s continue walking." 


	7. You make everything better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't help it. After last night's episode... I just needed to post Hosie fluff. 
> 
> Enjoy all!

The day that Josie had been anticipating since the beginning of the school year had finally come. She was on a plane to Los Angeles with Hope and the others, determined to kick butt at the Economics Forum. This was their time to shine and show everyone what they’re made of. Throughout the trip, a lot of different thoughts were running through Josie’s mind. They were mostly about what happened in the past few days. She’d been spending a lot of time with Hope and with each passing day, the two girls were growing even closer to each other. For the whole trip, Josie couldn’t stop staring at the girl next to her. Hope was sleeping soundly because they left during the night and she was very sleepy, but Josie couldn’t do that because that was just how she was. She never could and didn’t understand people who sleep during trips. So she just stared at Hope and admired her sleeping form. Who would’ve thought that the school basketball star would be on the Economics team and would be traveling with them to LA? Who would’ve thought that she’d end up becoming this close with a bookworm like Josie? The two were a part of different social structures at school, but somehow, they managed to become friends.

When the plane landed and they were finally at the Los Angeles airport, they were greeted by representatives from the Economic Forum, welcoming them to LA. There was a special bus waiting outside the airport that later took them to the expensive five-star hotel they were staying at for a whole week.

“So, who’s going to be roommates with who?” Mr. Vardemus asked his students with a wide smile on his face. “I mean, it’s obvious that the boys will be together, but what about you girls? You know that once you pick a roommate, you can’t switch, okay?”

“We know that Mr. Vardemus and we won’t cause any trouble, we promise!” Dana told the teacher and then put her arm around her best friend Maya’s shoulders, telling him non-verbally that they will be in a room together.

“So, I’m guessing that you two are going to be together in the room?” he asked again just to confirm and both girls nodded. That left Josie and Hope to be roommates and they were pretty happy because of that fact. This meant that they could spend all their time together, which is exactly what the two girls craved for. Both of them constantly wanted to be with each other, to talk and have fun. They were completely inseparable. For them that was normal, at least that’s what they thought, but they didn’t know that it could mean more than friendship.

When Josie and Hope later walked into their hotel room for the first time, both felt absolutely amazing. The thought that they were so far away from Mystic Falls was still sinking in. Josie loved that she was miles away from her annoying mother. This, of course, didn’t mean that Caroline wasn’t going to call her every five minutes. When Josie turned on her phone, she saw so many missed calls from her mother that it made her head spin. She had intentionally turned off her phone on the plane so that her mother couldn’t reach her and she was dreading the fact that she was going to have to call her eventually.

“Why so glum, Jo?” Hope asked as soon as she noticed Josie’s depressed face when she looked at her phone.

“I don’t want to call my mom,” the other girl replied and sighed in frustration.

“Come here,” Hope told her and opened up her arms for her friend, ready to give the girl a nice warm hug. Josie went into her arms and melted in Hope’s embrace which immediately made her feel a lot better. “You don’t have to call her right now. Let’s rest first and you can do it later.”

Josie muttered an “Okay” under her breath as she rested her head on Hope’s shoulder. Afterwards, the two girls went to check out the terrace in their room. As soon as they walked outside, they were completely mesmerized by the amazing view that they saw. There was a breathtakingly beautiful garden filled with what felt like millions of gorgeous flowers.

“This is so amazing!” Hope said in awe as she and Josie moved to the edge of the terrace.

“It’s so pretty!” the other girl uttered as a huge smile formed on her beautiful angelic face.

After a few minutes of watching the view in silence, the two girls decided to sit down on the bench that was situated there on the terrace. It had a cute long cushion on top of it in order for the guests of the hotel to feel more comfortable. The two were sitting close to each other and leaning back on the bench.

“I can’t believe we’re actually here, Hope…” Josie said quietly and then leaned her head on the other girl’s shoulder. “Can you?”

“I can’t. Also, the fact that you’re here with me makes it all seem like a wonderful dream,” Hope replied and placed her arm around her friend’s shoulder.

“That’s such a sweet thing to say. But why is it so important that I’m here?” Josie asked curiously and lifted her head up, then looked into Hope’s eyes, waiting for her to speak.

“Because you make everything better, no matter what it is. It’s like wherever you go or do, the atmosphere there becomes lighter, happier. Your joyful personality and your beautiful smile just lights up everything around you, so I guess without you here, I would probably feel miserable,” the girl explained, making Josie’s heartbeat increase and her face become red with embarrassment. Nobody had ever told her something so sweet and made her feel this way. If Hope was her girlfriend at that moment, she would attack her with millions of kisses. “God, you’re just so perfect and I want to spend my whole time with you…”

“You’re so adorable, Hope. Thank you for these kind words. No one has ever told me something as sweet as this,” Josie told her friend as both of them continued looking into each other’s eyes.

“You deserve kindness and love, so other people are idiots for not giving that to you,” Hope said and afterwards the two ended up hugging, both happy that they were in each other’s lives.

* * *

In the big Conference hall a few hours later, the team and their teacher Mr. Vardemus were gathered along with the other contestants. There were teams from all around the world, so it was an amazing event where you could meet many different people and get to know cultures other than your own.

The organizer of the event – Mr. Tim Harris, Professor at Harvard University and a major figure in the Economics field, came into the hall along with a few more people. Everybody stood up and began clapping to show their respect. They stopped when he was handed a microphone and they saw that he was ready to speak.

“Hello to everybody! I am so happy to be a part of this event for yet another year. Honestly, it feels like yesterday since the first one was organized in 2006. God, that was 10 years ago, wow,” Mr. Harris said through the microphone with an astonished voice because this whole experience was unbelievable for him. “I am certain that this year’s teams would be even better and I cannot wait to see what projects you have all prepared. As you know, I will be part of the committee along with Mrs. Janet Murphy, Professor of Economics at Yale University,” he pointed at the woman as he said her name. She stood up and everyone began clapping again. When the sound died down, he introduced the third person that was part of the committee, “Let’s also not forget that this year, we will be joined by Mrs. Alex Wheeler, the vice president in charge of global digital marketing at one of the largest companies in the world – Starbucks!” As soon as the woman was introduced, she also stood up and waved at everyone with a smile on her face, receiving claps in return as well. “Once again, we’re happy that you all could join us and we cannot wait for you to impress us with your projects. Thank you!”

When Tim Harris finished his speech, everyone else started clapping again. Afterwards, there were other people who were speaking, telling everyone just basic stuff and in the end, the event finished off with a brief explanation of the schedule for the week. Since the guests have to be entertained somehow, the organizers have a lot of interesting things planned for them. After lunch, there was a trip planned to some of the most famous museums in Los Angeles. Josie and Hope decided to skip it, though, while the rest of their team and teacher went.

“You didn’t have to skip the trip because of me, you know…” Hope told the other girl as they walked inside the elevator that would take them to the third floor where their room was at.

“I don’t want to go anywhere if you’re not going to be there,” Josie said and winked at her friend. “I feel the exact same way you do, Hope. Without you, I would definitely have a miserable experience.”

“Hey, don’t copy my words,” Hope told her and pouted afterwards. “They were so you’d feel special. Now that you’ve said this to me as well, everything is ruined.”

“No, babe! Now we’re both special!” Josie exclaimed as soon as she heard the other girl’s words. When the elevator stopped right after, she quickly took Hope’s hand and led her out the elevator before saying, “Now stop pouting. You’re way too cute and I might end up hugging you to death.”

“What? Then what will you do when I die?” Hope asked and pretended to be hurt by putting on a dramatic face and placing her free hand on her heart as the two made their way to their hotel room.

“I will kill myself and join you in the afterlife! Don’t worry. You won’t get rid of me that easily,” Josie answered the question and chuckled.

“Oh god, you’re unbelievable,” Hope began laughing as well. She imagined her and Josie in the afterlife, being ghosts and chilling all eternity, occasionally spying on people as well. _That would be so fun!_

When the two finally went inside the hotel room, Josie quickly took her shoes off and jumped on top of the queen-sized bed. Yeah, they were sharing a bed because that was the only room they had available for them unfortunately. They didn’t mind, though. Both girl actually thought that it would be fun to share a bed. That way they had something other than stuffed animals to cuddle.

“Want something to drink, Jo?” Hope asked the girl and opened the mini-fridge that they had in the room as well. “There’s coke, soda, juice and water.”

“Mmmmmm, I think that I’ll have juice. What flavor does the hotel offer?” Josie said cutely and sat up on the bed.

“Orange, sour cherry, mango or peach?” Hope told her the flavors one by one and the other girl yelled out like a little kid that she wants orange juice. It was extremely adorable and her friend couldn’t help but look at her with soft eyes and say, “Aweeeee”.

After Hope gave Josie the juice box, both girls were then sitting on the bed next to each other and drinking the delicious beverage. They afterwards began talking about some random things that interested them. Both of them were having a really wonderful time, much better than if they had went to the museum to look at some boring things. After a while, Josie even put some music on and got up from the bed to dance her heart out. She acted like a total drunkhead, swinging her arms in all directions and swaying her body to the music. Hope couldn’t help but chuckle at her friend’s cute actions.

“Come and dance with me, Hope!” Josie then said loudly as the music kept playing in the background and reached out her arm so that Hope could take her hand and get off the bed. At first, she was having trouble getting her friend to stand up and dance, but the shorter girl eventually gave in to Josie’s wishes. The two were giggling as they had their arms around each other like some couple you could see in the movies. The song was slow and both girls were deeply staring into each other’s eyes. It was like they could see the other’s soul, that was how much their connection had progressed in the time that they’ve known each other.

“I like how close we’ve become to each other,” Hope suddenly said softly without tearing her eyes away from Josie’s. “I’ve never felt this way about anybody before. You’re all I think about all day and night. I really want to spend all my time with you, Jo, no one else.”

Josie felt her whole face turn red as she heard her friend spilling out her feelings. She also felt something strange in her stomach, like there was a knot tied in there, and for a second there, she could literally swear that she stopped breathing without knowing it. Hope’s words made her feel absolutely breathless.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve completely fallen for me,” Josie uttered as she stared into Hope’s beautiful eyes.

The other girl smiled at her friend, wondering how she hadn’t noticed it sooner. It was all there, all the signs, but she didn’t pay much attention to them. The constant longing to be with the person, always thinking about them, she realized at that moment that she had indeed completely fallen hard for this girl in front of her without actually knowing it. Josie managed to make her head spin and take her breath away with just one look, so Hope stood speechless in her arms for a few seconds. In the end, she finally gave the girl a reply, spilling out every drop of her feelings that she had left, “What if I might have?

The answer that Josie got from Hope took her a little by surprise since she expected the girl to laugh off her comment about having been completely fallen for her. She didn’t expect her to actually admit that there was a possibility of that being true. But now she did, Josie wondered for a moment if she felt the same. After taking a while to look at the girl in front of her clearly and acknowledge her as a whole, she realized that Hope was the most amazing person she’d ever met and that all this time, these feelings that she was having weren’t just normal friendship ones. God, they were so much more than that.

“Well, I think that I might have fallen for you too,” she gave Hope a reply after a moment of staying silent. Her eyes then darted from the other girl’s lips to her beautiful eyes and then back to her lips. Before she knew it, she then moved her face closer to hers while closing her eyes. She felt Hope’s nose brushing against hers and a second later, their lips connecting. This kiss wasn’t at all like the one they shared before. It wasn’t some joke but a hundred percent real and filled with so many emotions that it made both girls’ heads spin. It was so overwhelming for both of them and magical at the same time. For the first time, Josie and Hope were sure about something without having absolutely any doubts. These feelings were real and nothing in this world could convince them otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful comments and never forget that Hosie is everything! <3


	8. Wrong direction, maybe?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some cute soft Hosie~ <3 Enjoy all!

Hope was lying down on one of the single beds in the hotel room with Josie cuddled up against her side. Her head was resting on Hope’s shoulder and she had one arm around the girl’s small body. Smiles crept on both girls’ faces as they were lying there with their bodies pressing against each other. Hope was playing with Josie’s beautiful hair. The atmosphere was light and the two felt absolutely at peace.

“You’re so beautiful,” Hope uttered, her voice low, as she placed a kiss on Josie’s forehead. The girl chuckled after she heard those words and hid her face in embarrassment. She wasn’t really used to compliments yet, and she probably never would be for that matter if they were coming from Hope. Josie felt like the girl was the only person who could make her knees weak and her heart beat like crazy with just a couple of words. 

“Stop! You’re making me blush,” she whined and buried her face deeper in Hope’s neck. But she didn’t abide by those wishes and just continued telling the other girl how amazing she thinks she is. Josie felt like she was going to be the death of her. 

About ten or so minutes later, both girls felt a bit hungry. Hope looked at her mobile phone’s screen to check the time and saw that it was around 2 o’clock in the afternoon. They had missed lunch but it wasn’t a big deal because they could still go down to the restaurant and get whatever they want to eat. The food was free of charge because everything was handled by the organizers of the competition. 

“Let’s go grab something from downstairs, babe!” Hope excitedly said and quickly got out of bed, pulling her body away from her girl’s grasp. 

“I swear, sometimes you remind me of MG,” Josie told her and pouted because she suddenly missed the warmth of Hope’s body.

“Maybe, but I’m not as crazy about food as him,” the girl replied and then leaned down to place a small kiss on Josie’s lips. “On the other hand, I’m obsessively crazy about you, though.”

Hope immediately made her smile and chuckle cutely with her words. “You really know how to make a girl blush, don’t you?” Josie just replied afterwards, making the other girl smirk. 

“That’s not the only thing I can do well,” Hope wiggled her eyebrows and extended her arm towards Josie, waiting for her to grab her hand and get off the bed so they could go eat. After she did as the girl wanted, Hope received a playful smack on the shoulder. 

"Pervert," she heard Josie mouth back a reply. 

"I meant that I am pretty good at being a loving girlfriend," Hope defended herself while rubbing the spot Josie had smacked. "Who's the pervert now?"

"Shut up," Josie said and pouted. "And for the record, how do I know whether you're a good girlfriend or not? We never made things official between us."

"Well then let me show you!" Hope answered the question that was fired at her with a loving smile on her face. She then got down on one knee in front of Josie and took her hand. The whole thing was extremely dramatic and it made the other girl laugh in disbelief. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend, Josie Saltzman?" 

"Oh my god... It's like you're proposing to me, Hope. Seriously?!" Josie told her in between the fits of laughter. "Of course I'll be your girlfriend. Now get up, you idiot."

With a huge grin plastered on her cute face, Hope stood up and was now face to face with the other girl. She didn't even let a minute pass before enveloping her in a tight hug and then kissing her senselessly. Josie smiled in between the kiss and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's neck. Both of them got lost in the moment and completely forgot about their raging stomachs which demanded food immediately. It was probably half an hour later when they finally stopped making out with each other and pulled away all together.

"Babe, seriously... Let's go eat. We'll have all the time in the world to kiss later," Josie told the other girl while gently moving her hand along her back.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Hope replied and pouted afterwards. Josie leaned in and placed a quick kiss on those lips of hers which she found incredibly adorable.

The two then made their way down to the hotel's restaurant to grab a bite to eat. The place looked pretty fancy and expensive, but since they didn't have to worry about money, they both just sat down at a table that was in the far corner. It wasn't long before the waiter came and took their orders. Josie ordered something called Masa toro with cavier because it sounded  exquisite and she wanted to try something new and different, while Hope just ordered an omelette and some salad to go with it. Unlike Josie, she ordered something which she knew she'd like and would be able to eat as she was a really picky eater.

"This view is amazing," Josie gasped in awe as she took notice of the gorgeous sight of the beach. The hotel was very close to it and the view could be seen from almost all of the rooms.

"It is, but it's not as beautiful as you," Hope complimented her girlfriend, making Josie's face go red for god knows which time. She'd lost count already and they've only been together for a few hours.

"You're such a smooth-talker," Josie said and extended her arm across the table in order to playfully nudge her girlfriend. Before she could, though, Hope caught it and smiled sheepishly. She then looked around to see if anybody was looking at them. When she saw that nobody was, since they have their own lives and problems to deal with, she brought Josie's hand to her lips and kissed its back. Same-sex relationships weren't accepted by everyone, so Hope just wanted to make sure that nobody was paying attention to them while they did anything that could be considered remotely romantic. 

"Relax, no one was looking," Hope told her girl as soon as she saw the frightened expression on her face that somebody might have seen them. "I know that we haven't talked about going public with our relationship, but I think that we should wait until we're both ready. You know how these types of things are not really accepted  easily, especially in Mystic Falls ."

"Yes, I agree with you,  Jo . Plus, there's also the fact that we've been together for only a few hours. I don't want us to rush things. Let's go slow? We have all the time in the world," Josie gave a reply to her girlfriend's words and Hope gently squeezed her hand and nodded before letting it go, a wide smile situated on her face while looking at Josie.

It didn't take more than 10 minutes after and their food had arrived. Josie immediately regretted what she had ordered. It tasted absolutely horrible, so she ended up leaving it and they both shared Hope's omelette and salad. They spent the next 30 or so minutes just chatting about random things with Hope occasionally blurting out some romantic and sweet comment to make Josie blush.

After they were finished eating, both of them ran out of the restaurant and decided to go back to their room, get dressed, and go out somewhere to explore the city.

"Where do you want to go first?" Josie asked her girlfriend half an hour later when they were outside of the hotel.

"Let's check Google to see if there are any interesting places around here," Hope suggested and Josie then immediately pulled out her phone. They searched online for about 10 minutes before they decided that they want to go to the zoo which was about 20 minutes away from them if they go by bus.

"Let's go, babe!" Josie cheerfully exclaimed and then grabbed Hope by the hand before she started pulling her towards the nearest bus stop. They had checked everything regarding how to get to the zoo. First they have to take bus number 303, then get off after 2 stops. Afterwards, they have to walk a few minutes to another bus stop and then wait for bus 55 from there. It sounded pretty easy to them but unfortunately, the two girls didn't anticipate that they might be waiting for the bus on the wrong side of the road, at the incorrect bus stop.

A few minutes later, bus 303 showed up and both Hope and Josie hopped onto it. The two were forced to stand up since all seats were taken by passengers, but that didn't bother them. In fact, as the bus ride continued, the vehicle rocked from time to time, making both girls get closer and almost fall into each other's arms.

"I think we have to get off on this stop," Hope said and the other girl nodded in agreement. So that's what they did. "Now we have to walk to that other one, right?"

Josie took out her phone to check the directions and saw the bus stop but the map that Google showed was definitely not where they were. Something really wasn't right here.

"I think we're not where we're supposed to be, babe..." Josie told her girlfriend and Hope panicked. 

"What? What do you mean? We got off after 2 stops," Hope argued, the irritation seemingly visible in her voice. She then moved closer to Josie in order to look at the phone's screen. They had followed the directions perfectly in her opinion. It wasn't that hard, so why was Josie telling her this crap now.

"It doesn't look the same, look..." Josie showed her girlfriend and moved her finger along the touchscreen.

"Maybe we're just looking at it wrong. Try rotating it or something," Hope said and Josie did as she was told. 

"I think that the second bus stops here," Josie pointed to another bus stop near them. "Let's go there!"

So the two girls set off on an adventure down the busy streets of Los Angeles. Josie was looking at her phone to follow directions while Hope was clutching onto her arm and walking next to her like a cute puppy. 

"Babe, why don't we just grab a taxi? It will be easier," Hope suggested and Josie sighed because she was annoyed and didn't really want to do that. She hated when things didn't go her way, when she couldn't do something, because all her life, she was perfect and could manage to do almost anything. Going to the zoo turned out to be a challenge at that moment and she didn't want to give up. 

"No, I want to do this. We can find it..." Josie muttered while still looking at her phone.

About 10 minutes later, the girls finally arrived at the bus stop that they were looking for and saw that the bus they had to catch didn’t stop there. 

"What the hell?" Hope heard Josie yell out as she looked at the sign next to them that says which buses arrive and after what time. "Are you kidding me? What the hell is going on?" 

"Let me check the directions," Hope told her girlfriend and grabbed her phone. She started scrolling through it, looking at bus stop and street names. Eventually she figured out their problem and facepalmed.

"What is it?" Josie asked when she noticed her girlfriend's reaction. Hope sighed in irritation once again and muttered something under her breath that the other girl didn't understand. "Hope, what is it?

"When we were outside the hotel we went to the wrong bus stop. It was in the wrong direction. We had to go to the one opposite of it, on the other side of the street," she explained to Josie and the girl let out a groan in annoyance. 

"Ugh, this is all my fault. We wasted half an hour because of me..." Josie and and buried her face in her hands. She felt horrible that this happened and she was pissed off at herself for being so stupid by making a dumb mistake like that.

"Hey, hey, no... Babe, it's okay. You're only human. Everyone makes wrong choices. Plus, no time spent with you is wasted," Hope reassured her and gently rubbed her back with her hand. "It was kind of fun when you think about it actually. You were so cute when you were trying to find where we should go."

"You really think so?" Josie asked her after removing her hands from her face. Her eyes were filling up with tears and Hope felt the need to brush them away, but they were both in public now and she couldn't no matter how much she wanted to.

"Of course, silly!" Hope answered and then leaned in to hug her girlfriend. “Let’s grab a taxi now. I really want to see the cute animals!” She said as soon as she pulled away after what felt like hours and then she started jumping up and down like a little kid. It was pretty damn adorable and it made Josie’s heart melt.

A few minutes later, they grabbed the first taxi they saw and told the driver where they wanted to go. He even took less money from them because they pretended to be like those foreigners that didn’t understand English, so they could get out of paying for stuff. Everything went pretty smoothly and not long after, the girls were finally at the zoo.

“Ready to watch some cute animals?” Josie asked her girlfriend and gave her hand a squeeze. Hope looked at her with a huge grin on her face and nodded her head. Both girls then ran through entrance of the zoo, ready to spend some wonderful time together doing something they were both going to enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your kudos, comments and everything. Love you guys! <3


	9. Studying or well... not exactly?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while guys. I hope you enjoy this chapter! ^-^

Throughout the whole time they were at the zoo, Hope didn’t stop acting like a little kid. She was so excited about seeing the animals and was jumping up and down most of the time with her arms in the air. Josie thought that the way her girlfriend was behaving was absolutely adorable and she couldn’t help but chuckle most of the time.

“Ohhh! Look at that monkey!” Hope yelled out and began running towards the cage where there were some cute little monkeys. One of them was scratching its butt and the girl just kept pointing at it and looking in awe.

“Are you really that mesmerized by this?” Josie asked her girlfriend and laughed as Hope kept staring. “Do you have some weird fetish or something? If I start scratching my butt, would you be turned on?”

As soon as she heard the other girl’s words, Hope let out a loud laugh. She immediately looked at Josie and smiled widely, then she placed a hand on her shoulder and moved closer to whisper in her ear, “It’s not a fetish, no… But, babe, no matter what you do, you’ll always turn me on.”

Hope then stepped back and moved away from her girlfriend to get back to watching the monkey, leaving Josie with a flushed face.

“You’re such a pervert, you know that…” Josie just muttered under her breath. When Hope heard it, she threw a quick wink and her and continued watching the cute animals.

“Let’s go check out something else!” the short girl said in excitement and grabbed her girlfriend’s hand, then began dragging her towards the cages of other animals. “Oh my god, that tiger is so cool!” she said after she noticed the huge beast.

“You’re unbelievable. Is there an animal you don’t like?” Josie asked while chuckling yet again.

“No, I like all of them!” Hope exclaimed and continued staring at the tiger in awe.

“You’re like a little kid,” Josie said and pulled her girlfriend closer afterwards because she had the urge to just hug the life out of her. She was so goddamn cute. Josie didn’t know why but this type of people attracted her so much. She didn’t want the hot and sexy type so much, but someone sweet and adorable like Hope, who could make her laugh. Of course, she wouldn’t turn the girl down if she decided to be a little more, you know, seductive.

“Mommy, why are these girls hugging each other?” the couple suddenly heard some small child that was standing a few meters away ask its mother.

“Because they’re friends, honey. Friends do that when they have strong mutual feelings for one another,” the woman explained to her daughter with a soft gentle voice.

Both Hope and Josie smiled at the words, but they weren’t only friends, and they wished at that moment that they could show the mother and her daughter that. The two wanted nothing more but to kiss each other in front of them so they could see what a beautiful couple they are and what strong feelings they have for each other. But they knew they couldn’t do that. It was far too soon, which made both their hearts hurt. Josie squeezed her girlfriend’s hand and just wished she could show the world that this beautiful girl beside her was hers.

“Maybe someday, we can reveal to the world how much we mean to each other,” Josie leaned in and whispered in her girlfriend’s ear.

“I’d like that,” Hope uttered and turned her head a little, then gently placed a soft kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek without anybody noticing. Josie immediately felt better afterwards because she knew that someday, she and her girlfriend can freely show their relationship to the world without worrying about anything. She’d just have to wait. There’s no need to rush anything.

A few hours later, the two girls were back at the hotel, because according to the schedule, there was going to be some conference meeting to give more details about the competition, so there was no way that they could skip it. During that meeting, the committee didn’t really say anything that important. The only thing they needed to be aware of was the fact that they’ve changed the grading scale that determines the winners and that there was also going to be an extra part of the contest. They made it like an opportunity for the teams to earn more points. That part included solving some serious economic problem by coming up with an interesting solution with graphs and calculations.

“We should start preparing for the special part. I’m not sure if all of you are ready for it. We can ace the other things at least. I’m not worried about that,” Mr. Vardemus informed his students and took out a few textbooks. “Look at all the graphs in this and skim through everything in terms of theory, just in case the problem involves knowing some of the specifics.”

There were three textbooks, so the students began reading in pairs of two. Josie was with Hope, of course, and they told everyone they’d go to their room to study because they’d feel better if they’re alone. They obviously weren’t going to do much studying, because they had other plans, but the others didn’t need to know that.

* * *

  
  


[After an hour]

  
  


“Babe, we should really study. The special part is in two days,” Josie told Hope while the girl was kissing her neck, but she didn’t listen. She just hummed and continued doing what she was doing, driving her girlfriend absolutely insane. “Do you even know what a Demand curve is?”

“No, but if it’s anything like the curves of your body, I’d like it a lot,” Hope replied to the question and moved her hand along the other girl’s left thigh, making Josie release a light moan.

“Hope, please…” she uttered breathlessly and grabbed Hope by the arm in order to stop her.

“Ugh, fine… But I want to make out with you after we finish studying,” the girl pouted as she moved away from Josie and took the textbook from the floor. That’s where they had previously left it.

“Alright, dork!” Josie chuckled and hit Hope playfully on the shoulder. The two girls then began going through the textbook carefully so they would be ready for the competition.

“Okay, so what is this demind curve thingy that you said before?” Hope asked and Josie laughed before correcting her that it’s actually called a “demand” curve and not “demind”. Hope nodded as if she would actually remember it until tomorrow. She wasn’t really that good at this stuff. It was more her girlfriend’s area. But she did learn a lot ever since she joined the team for the competition.

“A demand curve is a graph which shows the relationship between the quantity of a product and its price,” Josie explained and pointed at a picture of the graph in the textbook. “If the price goes up, you’d obviously buy less of the product, right?”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Hope nodded and continued listening to Josie. But she soon got lost in the girl’s beautiful eyes and her soothing voice was like melody to her ears. She was mesmerizing and Hope felt like she wanted to kiss her at that moment.

“Focus, Hope! Are you even listening to me?” Josie yelled out, snapping the girl out of her trance.

“Yes, sure. I’m sorry,” the other girl apologized quickly, making her girlfriend sigh.

“You should pay more attention. What were you thinking about?” Josie asked and Hope immediately took the girl’s hand in her own, then began tracing circles with her thumb over it.

“I was just… I can’t stop thinking about how gorgeous you are and how smart. You know so many things and it’s absolutely amazing. I admire you so much. You’re the full package and I can’t believe you’re with a dumbass like me of all people,” Hope confessed, making Josie blush with her words.

“Hope…” the other girl uttered, her eyes wide with shock. She then leaned forward and hugged Hope. “Never look down on yourself like that. You’re just as amazing yourself. You’re kind and sweet, the most adorable girl I’ve ever met, and you make me happy. God, you make me so so so happy that I just can’t put into words the feelings that I’m having right now.”

Hope felt tears forming in her eyes and she squeezed Josie’s body even more, hugging her tighter. As the two were caught up in this emotional embrace, Josie felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Both girls pulled away from each other and looked at the Caller ID. It was Josie’s mother who was calling and they immediately sighed because she hasn’t stopped trying to reach Josie ever since they landed. She spoke to her a couple of times, but it wasn’t for long because she always came up with some excuse to hung up the phone.

“Are you going to answer it?” Hope asked as the phone continued buzzing. Josie nodded and then hit the green button before pressing the phone against her ear.

“Hello?” Josie said with a cold voice and then heard her mother immediately yelling from the other line.

“Josette Saltzman, why in the world didn’t you call me two hours ago? I specifically asked you to,” Caroline told her daughter angrily and Josie rolled her eyes.

“I forgot, mother. I have a lot going on right now with the competition. I need to prepare for it, especially now that there’s a new special part with an economic problem that they added. I can’t call you all the time like you want,” the girl fired back at her mom, making Caroline clench her teeth in anger.

“Fine. What is this special part exactly? What kind of problem will you have to solve? How many points will it be? You have to do everything you can to beat the other teams and succeed, do you hear me?” the woman started interrogating her daughter. She was getting on Josie’s nerves with all these questions. The girl explained everything to her mother but Caroline was still not satisfied and continued asking many many more questions and driving Josie crazy.

Hope was listening to everything and felt her heart hurt for her girlfriend. She hated how Caroline treated her daughter because it was somewhat similar to how her own mother acted towards her. She could see Josie’s suffering and knew that she had to do something about this. That’s when she came up with a brilliant idea of how to stop this. Well, for now at least. Hope then moved next to the nightstand and hit her hand against it, letting out a scream at the same time.

“Oh my god, Hope…” Josie suddenly yelled when she saw what had happened. “Mom, I got to go. My roommate just hit her hand and I need to help her,” she told her mother in a hurry and quickly hung up. She then moved next to Hope and held her hand. “Are you okay? Why the hell did you do that?”

“To stop you from talking with your mother…” the other girl explained and winced as Josie held her hand.

“You’re such an idiot, Hope…” Josie told her as tears began welling up in her eyes. “You really scared me, you know. You could’ve broken your hand or something and then you wouldn’t have been able to play basketball for a while.”

“It’s not broken, relax. It just hurts a little,” Hope explained and tried calming her girlfriend. “I didn’t hit it that hard to be honest.”

“Are you sure?” Josie asked worriedly and the other girl nodded. She then brought Hope’s hand to her lips and placed a gentle kiss on it. “Never do it again… Don’t hurt yourself on purpose, okay? Promise me…”

“I promise, I won’t do it again,” Hope replied and Josie smiled, then gave her girlfriend another kiss, but this time on the lips.

“Putting everything aside, thanks for saving me from my mother,” Josie expressed her gratitude and then kissed the girl once more.

“Anytime, babe, but now I’d like you to do something for me, okay?” Hope said as soon as Josie pulled away. Her girlfriend nodded after hearing that, implying that she was okay with doing whatever Hope wants. “Remember that time we made a bet and you lost? When we were shooting hoops with our eyes closed?”

“Yeah, I have to grant you one wish,” Josie answered and waited for Hope to continue speaking.

“Yeah… I know what I want for a wish,” the girl then said with a smile on her face.

“I’m all ears. What is it that you want me to do?” Josie asked, then looked at her girlfriend with expectant eyes.

“Stay with me forever,” Hope said her wish out loud and Josie’s eyes widened. “Be mine and never leave me…”

That was definitely an impossible wish because nobody knows what’s going to happen in the future. But at that moment, it didn’t seem so. Both girls knew that that’s exactly what they wanted and they felt like it was achievable. Josie wanted to stay with Hope forever and never leave her. She wanted to spend her entire life with this gorgeous girl in front of her…

“Okay, I will do it.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All comments, kudos, etc are much appreciated! <3


	10. Special part is up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The competition is starting with a bang! ;) Enjoy!

The time for the first round of the Economics competition to take place had finally come. It took only a day, 3 hours, 45 minutes and 26 seconds. Or at least, that’s how much time Josie thought had passed. Yes, she was counting because she couldn’t wait. She had been anticipating this moment for such a long time and it had finally arrived. The girl had to admit that Hope was a bit of a distraction, though. Usually, when she’s with the girl, which was almost all the time, she would kind of forget about everything that’s going on. But she’d try as hard as she could to keep her head in the competition because they couldn’t afford to lose this.

When the whole team walked inside the large hall where the first round would take place, Josie felt that nervous and yet exciting feeling in the pit of her stomach. Hope secretly squeezed her hand without anyone noticing in order to help her calm down a bit. It definitely worked because Josie looked at her girlfriend and smiled sweetly at her to express her gratitude. As they continued walking, the girls noticed that there was one large desk for each of the teams with the number of seats matching that of the members. Hope looked at her phone to check the time and noticed that there were still 20 minutes left before the start of the round, so she had some time to lay back and chill. As for Josie, Maya and Dana, it was the perfect moment to look around and examine the competition.

“Well, well, well… Look what we have here. I didn’t expect to see weirdos from Mystic Falls at this competition,” some bitchy girl said as she eyed Josie’s team. “Isn’t that dump of a place a little too far from here? Why would you travel all this way just to lose?”

“We’re from one of the most elite schools in Mystic Falls if you must know and we’re definitely not going to lose. I can’t say the same thing about you and your team, though…” Josie fired back with a smirk on her face, making the bitchy girl angry.

“Hun, you’re no match for us. We’re the best team in New York and we’ve won this competition every single year since its beginning,” the bitchy girl stated and pushed Josie back a little, “So I suggest that you don’t get too comfortable and start packing your bags, because you’ll definitely be eliminated in-“

“Now, now… Play nice, Amanda…” a tall man said as he came behind the bitchy girl and placed a hand on her shoulder, silencing her immediately. He then looked at Josie and her team with an apologetic look on his face before saying, “I’m sorry about her. She’s a bit stressed out. I’m sure you’ll do great in the competition.”

“Steve, it’s nice to see you again!” Mr. Vardemus also came out of nowhere and smiled at the other man. It turned out that this man’s the New York team’s teacher and he and Mr. Vardemus go way back.

“Hey! It’s been a while, old friend!” Steve said and shook Mr. Vardemus’s hand. Then they went on talking about the good old days while the two teams just stood there throwing death glares at each other.

The minutes passed before everyone knew it, so all the teams had to go to their respective desks, because the first round was about to begin.

After everyone was seated, the organizer Mr. Tim Harris stood at the front with a microphone in his hand.

“Before we proceed with the first round of the competition, I’d like to say a few words. First of all, I am so happy to see all your beautiful faces here today. It’s always nice looking at bright young people. Second, we’ve decided to change the format a bit this year. You’re probably wondering why you’re all sitting at these desks with the sheets of paper in front of you. Well, this year, the first round will not be the presentation of the virtual enterprise. Instead, we will do everything backwards and start with the bonus part that I spoke about yesterday. I know that this may come as a surprise because you expected it to be last, but you know the moto – “Expect the unexpected!” Mr. Tim Harris explained and everyone looked at him in shock because 90% of the contestants thought they weren’t prepared enough for this challenge. They believed that they had some time to study more. The other 10% like Amanda for example from the New York team, were clapping loudly because they were cocky little bitches who believed that they were better than everyone else. “The rules are simple. You are managers of a store. Each week you have to make a decision of how much of a certain product to order from your supplier, while at the same time, taking into account how much of that product will be consumed by the supplier's clients. You also have to know that there are transport costs of 900$ which do not change. After you write down the order delivery in your sheet, I will reveal on the board how much is the consumption by the customer for the week. If your number is higher, you have a surplus and if it's lower, there's a shortage. Bear in mind that if you have a shortage, you have to pay a fine of 300$. Your goal here is to have as less expenditures as possible. The team who manages to have the least amount of expenditures, will be in first place during this round and will be granted the most points. Oh, one last thing, keep in mind that you have only 2 minutes to decide your amount for each week.”

Everyone nodded after hearing the explanations given by Mr. Tim Harris and looked at their sheets of paper. Josie quickly told everyone that they should play safe first and shouldn’t order a really high amount for the first week. Her team members nodded and trusted her, so they wrote 239 in the bar for Week 1. As soon as the 2 minutes were up and Mr. Tim Harris revealed the amount of consumption, Josie’s team sighed because it was 228. They had a surplus of 11 units, which was okay. So, they proceeded with making calculations. The team continued playing it safe for the next few weeks, still ordering small amounts, but when they had a shortage of 5 units and had to pay a fine, they decided not to do that anymore and ordered a huge amount of 451 units. They thought up a strategy that seemed brilliant. During two of the weeks, they decided not to order anything and not pay transport costs. Everything was going perfectly fine. In the end, they ended up with total expenditures of 9602$. Because the whole thing was stressful, the team couldn’t manage their time very well, but they still think that they did very well when the round was over. Mr. Tim Harris then announced that the results will be ready in about an hour because they have to check all the calculations and graphs made. The teams took that time to just sit back and relax. Josie and Hope went back to their room and just laid in bed in each other’s arms for a while to calm themselves.

“It’s going to be okay, babe. We did great. You were definitely amazing,” Hope told her girlfriend as she gently rubbed her back.

“I hope so…” Josie replied and buried her face in the crook of the other girl’s neck, smelling her perfume at the same time. God, it was intoxicating and Josie absolutely loved it.

“Did you see how stressed that bitchy New York girl was during the round?” Hope asked and chuckled a little.

“Oh yeah, I think that at one point, she even started yelling at one of her teammates,” Josie replied and afterwards both girls began laughing loudly. Honestly, it was hilarious. Josie knew girls like that because she’s had to deal with them her whole life. Not everyone looked up to her and saw her as a role model. There were bitches out there who had envied her throughout the years and who had tried to ruin her life. Of course, they were never successful because Josie had always somehow managed to deal with them thanks to how strong she was. She would never let anyone like that get to her and ruin her concentration. They’re winning this competition and nothing would stop them.

“What are you thinking about, babe?” Hope asked her girlfriend while looking at her. She was definitely spacing out.

“Nothing important really. That girl from New York made me remember how many people like her I’ve had to deal with throughout my life. That’s all,” Josie told Hope and sighed.

“Oh… I’m sorry that you had to go through that. They’re just jealous because you’re the smartest and most beautiful girl in the world,” Hope decided to be a bit cheesy in hopes that it will make her girl think of something else.

“Hope… You’re making me blush,” Josie said and hid her face with her hands.

“Don’t hide that gorgeous face of yours,” Hope told her and moved her girlfriend’s hands away, then slowly leaned in while closing her eyes. Josie did the same and before the two knew it, they were wrapped up in passionate kissing. It was all slow and breathtaking. The two couldn’t get enough of each other.

“I never want to let you go…” Josie whispered against Hope’s mouth. “Never…”

* * *

  
  


It was time for the results to be revealed, so all teams were gathered in the large hall where the first round was held. There was a huge presentation screen inside the room next to Mr. Tim Harris where he would show everyone which team’s at which place.

“Before I share with you the results, I’d like to show you the perfect strategy for this round,” the man said to all the teams. He then revealed it a few seconds later and Josie noticed that their team were really close to achieving the same result. It was mind-blowing for her because she hadn’t expected it at all. There were some differences during the 3rd and 5th week, but overall, everything else was the same. The girl smiled to herself as suddenly all the nervousness about the results faded, because she knew that they would get really high points this round.

“I must say, only one team came close to achieving the perfect strategy. They just needed a little bit more,” Mr. Tim Harris told everyone with a huge smile plastered on his face. “That team is none other than the one from Mystic Falls. They earn 30 points and 10 extra for being first.”

Josie’s team did a group hug because they were so happy when they heard of those results. It’s not like they weren’t expecting it, but still, they were just so incredibly happy.

Mr. Tim Harris then announced the results of the other teams. The New York one came in 4th or 5th place, so that bitchy girl Amanda was so pissed off and of course blamed her teammates for the failure. The teams that came in 2nd and 3rd all got bonus points for being in the top 3. The rest just got some points for their efforts. Overall, the average score of all of the teams ranged between 15 and 25, so Josie was very pleased that her team now has a huge advantage and a very high probability of winning this whole thing.

“Now that this is round is over, I’d like to thank you all of the participation and hope you have a lovely time for the rest of your day,” Mr. Tim Harris said to everyone while smiling. “Round number 2 will be a test with multiple choice questions and some open questions as well, so be prepared. It will take place tomorrow morning.”

“What? Tomorrow morning? But that’s way too soon,” a boy from one of the teams yelled out, quite appalled by this announcement.

“I told you all to expect the unexpected,” Mr. Tim Harris chuckled. “Plus, will this even be a competition if there’s no pressure?”

A lot of people in the room groaned, but they couldn’t do anything about this. These were the rules and they had to follow them. Josie, on the other hand, felt so excited about this test tomorrow. She was thinking about how she and her team will nail it just like they did with this bonus challenge.

* * *

  
  


Josie and her team were busy with studying for the rest of the day. They couldn’t afford to lose this, so they had to give it everything they’ve got. At some point, Josie felt a bit tired and kind of wished that she could spend this time alone with Hope in their room cuddling, but it wasn’t going to happen. They had so much more of the material to cover. The test would include everything from Microeconomics to International Economics, so they had to definitely go through everything and know the definitions, curves and problems by heart.

Hope was having a hard time learning these things. Since she wasn’t as good at school as the rest of the group, she was very much struggling. Josie would notice that, so she’d try to explain things to her as much as possible.

When the clock hit 1 AM, the girls decided to call it a night and go to their respected rooms. As soon as Josie walked through the door, Hope quickly went inside after her and shut the door as fast as she could, locking it afterwards. She then immediately pushed the other girl so her back hit the wall behind her. Before Josie could react, there were a pair of lips crashing on her own and hands roaming around her body.

“Mhh, I’ve been waiting to do this for hours now,” Hope said breathlessly against Josie’s lips. “I won’t ever get enough when it comes to kissing your perfect lips.”

Josie felt the exact same way as Hope. She had also been wanting to touch and kiss the girl for hours. She can’t say there wasn’t some sexual tension between them, because there absolutely was, even when they were studying. Josie would totally sneak a glance at Hope’s lips or neck, or her exposed collar bones, or maybe even her boobs. She was wearing a sort of really lose tank top, so those were pretty easy to see.

“Hope...” Josie moaned as she felt Hope’s hand go under her shirt and caress her bare skin.

Though, as much as Josie really wanted to continue this, it was really getting late and they had the 2nd part of the competition tomorrow morning. They couldn’t afford not to be in their best state for it.

“Hope, it’s really late. We should go to bed,” Josie told her girlfriend and gently pushed Hope off of her.

Hope pouted because she really wanted hem to continue as well, but she knew that Josie was right. They had to go to bed and this competition was more important right now.

“Yeah, you’re right. We really should, but I just love kissing you so much,” Hope whispered in her girlfriend’s ear. “I wish I could kiss you forever.”

“I know, babe. I do too,” Josie told her and just wrapped her arms around her girl’s body, pulling her close and resting her head on Hope’s shoulder.

Hope knew how important this competition is to Josie and the last thing she wanted was to be such a huge distraction that it would cost them the win.

“We can catch up on all of these super hot activities once the competition is over, I promise,” Josie told the girl with a huge smile on her face and quickly pecked her lips, which in turn made a very wide grin appear on Hope’s face.

“We sure will!” she just replied and afterwards both girls got ready for bed.

They had a very important day coming up tomorrow and failure was not an option.


	11. Presentation time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update guys! <3 Enjoy!

Josie flipped through the pages of the test and read through all of the questions there carefully. There were exactly 15 multiple choice ones and 10 open questions that required drawing of graphs, calculations and a lot of explanations. She would lie if she said the test was easy. They went all out with these questions, but thankfully the girl covered all of the material, so she wasn’t worried all that much. They went through everything last night and the fact that she explained some of the topics to Hope made her remember the theory even more.

Hope, on the other hand, was having a hard time because she couldn’t concentrate. She barely slept the night before because she was worried about screwing things up. She was never really good at tests either and she was afraid to let her teammates down, especially her girlfriend. This was so important to her and Hope wanted to do her best and not be a useless member of this team, but sadly, most of the questions on this test were very difficult for her. She understood some and could maybe answer them correctly thanks to the fact that Josie had explained some stuff to her the night before, but the graphs and problems were definitely something that she was struggling with.

Hope sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She could feel some sweat on her forehead because of the pressure. Josie as if on cue noticed that her girlfriend was having a hard time so she turned around and gave her a warm smile, telling her non-verbally that everything will be okay. That gave Hope some reassurance and so she continued on with the test.

“You have 15 minutes left!” Mr. Tim Harris told all of the teams loudly enough so they could all hear him.

Josie heard a faint giggle coming from behind her but she decided not to pay attention to it and focus on the test. That bitchy girl Amanda from the New York team was there, behind her, so Josie didn’t even want to turn around and look at her.

“Oh what do we have here!” Josie suddenly heard the voice of Mr. Tim Harris right next to her. She saw him bend down and pick up a small piece of paper from under her chair. “I can’t believe this. That a student would actually result to cheating on an elite competition like this one,” he said as he opened the paper and saw what the contents were.

“What? That’s not mine!” Josie tried to defend herself. Everybody was now looking at her, some with concern, others with angry faces because they were so against cheating on tests, but Amanda had a huge smirk plastered on her face.

“It was under your chair. I don’t want to hear any excuses. You are disqualified from this round of the competition,” Mr. Tim Harris told the girl in a stern voice. “The rest of you continue with your test. I will give you an extra 10 minutes because of this incident.”

Josie picked up her things and just headed out of the room. She decided not to argue because it would cause even more trouble. Before she left, she threw a death glare at Amanda, who was still smirking. _That bitch definitely sabotaged me. I can’t believe how dirty she plays. _

The girl was extremely angry and just hoped that the rest of her teammates would manage to get enough points so they wouldn’t fall behind thanks to her getting disqualified.

“What a stupid bitch that girl Amanda is...” Josie muttered under her breath as she made her wait to her hotel room. She needed to calm down somehow, she needed Hope to hug her so badly because the girl would always make her feel so much better.

As soon as she walked inside the room, Josie immediately jumped on her bed and buried her face in her pillow, then screamed as loud as she could. That’s how she’d usually deal with the anger. She’d always scream with her head buried in her pillow every time her mother would make her mad or when she was really upset about something at school.

Then Josie sobbed, staining the pillows with her tears.

“God, I hate this,” she just said and gripped the sheets of the bed tightly. “How can some people be so cruel...”

* * *

  
[30 minutes later]

  
  


Josie had managed to calm down a little, but not completely, not until she knew what the results from the tests of her teammates were. She just sat on the bed and mindlessly scrolled through Facebook when she heard the door to the hotel room open, revealing Hope and her other teammates, along with their teacher.

They all looked worried about her because they noticed that her eyes were puffy, indicating that she was crying. Hope immediately wrapped her in a tight embrace and gently caressed her back.

“Jo, don’t worry. I’m sure we will have enough points, even though you got disqualified,” Maya told the girl and everyone else just nodded.

“I hope so. It’s all that bitch Amanda’s fault. She sneaked that note under my chair. I just know it. You should’ve seen the smirk she had on her face!” Josie angrily said and Hope hugged her even tighter.

“We believe you, Josie. You’ve never once cheated on anything and I trust that you didn’t do it this time,” Mr. Vardemus said and smiled at the girl. “I talked to Tim Harris and told him that it’s probably a misunderstanding. I apologized to him, but unfortunately, he still said that you’d receive zero points.”

“It’s alright. I’m sure the rest of you managed to do great,” Josie smiled at everyone and Hope finally released her from the hug, immediately resulting in the girl missing the warmth.

“We kind of have some bad news. Mr. Tim Harris announced that the last round will be held today, in about 1 hour, so we need to prepare immediately,” Landon explained and Josie’s eyes widened.

“1 hour? But that’s so soon and I look like crap,” Josie was panicking now.

“Don’t worry. We’ll help you get fixed up and then we’ll head to the presentation hall,” Dana tried to calm her down. “Maya, come with me to our room to get our make up kits. Boys, you go to the presentation hall and text us if there are any changes, and Hope, you stay here with Jo.”

Mr. Vardemus smiled at how well the team worked together. He was such a proud teacher and even if they didn’t win 1st place, which he highly doubted, he would still feel like the biggest winner in the world with these amazing kids. “I’ll head out and try to talk with the committee, tell them not to be biased or influenced by Tim Harris and the whole disqualification incident.”

After saying that, Mr. Vardemus left the room, followed by everyone except Hope and Josie, who were still on the bed. As soon as everybody else was out of the room, Josie immediately crumbled down and buried her face in Hope’s neck.

“I’m so sorry,” she just uttered and Hope wrapped her arms around the girl.

“Don’t, baby. You have nothing to apologize for. I know you didn’t cheat,” Hope told her and kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry. We’ll win this.” Hope reassured the girl. “Oh and by the way, don’t ever say that you look like crap again. You’re the most beautiful girl in the world. Even if you spend the whole day crying, you still are.”

“Hope, you’re being super cheesy,” Josie chuckled and then placed a gentle kiss on Hope’s lips.

“Aren’t I always?”, she said with a smirk on her face, which made Josie kiss her again and again and again.

“I adore that about you!”

* * *

After the girls helped Josie get ready and look presentable, the team made their way to the presentation hall. Josie was feeling a bit nervous but she knew that there’s no way for Amanda to ruin their presentation, not like she did with the test. It sucked that she got away with it, but Josie knew that they were going to crush those New York bitches during this final round.

“You ready?” Hope asked her girlfriend and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“Yup, ready as I’ll ever be,” Josie told her with a determined voice. “Let’s crush those bitches!”

Everybody on the team was super pumped up and after they entered the hall, they made their way towards their respective seats. Every team had assigned seats for them. Thankfully, they weren’t near the New York bitches, or else they would’ve jumped on them with all that aggression that they had built up. The other team was at the other end of the room, so they were just sending death glares to one another.

“Hello again, everyone! I hope you’re feeling the pressure of this competition already!” They all suddenly heard the voice of Mr. Tim Harris booming inside the hall through the microphone. “Now, I want each team to give it their all during this presentation because you can receive maximum 60 points from it. After all of the presentations are finished, me and the other judges will gather and decide on the final scores from the evaluation, then we’ll announce the winners.”

Hope was starting to get really nervous because she was having a hard time usually presenting in front of people, which was surprising because she was a basketball star and should probably be used to people watching her, but speaking in front of everyone on a topic that she wasn’t 100% familiar with, was a problem. Josie noticed this and leaned in to whisper in her girlfriend’s ear, “Hey, don’t worry. Everything will be okay.” Then she gently placed her hand on top of the girl’s and made small circles with her thumb so Hope could relax.

And indeed she did. Josie’s touch was soothing and she absolutely enjoyed it. She even drifted off because of it. It was like she wasn’t in the presentation hall anymore, but it was just her and Josie, somewhere, sitting alone. It’s like there weren’t even people around them who were talking. Hope just zoned out.

But that came to a stop really quickly because before she knew it, it was their time to present and Hope was immediately brought back into reality. _Oh shit… _That was all the girl could think at that moment. But she had to stay strong, she just did, for Josie. She couldn’t afford letting the girl down.

As soon as the team went up on stage, Maya started things off with the introduction of their firm - Grand Hotel JTX. The way she was talking mesmerized the audience. Then another member of her team began speaking, and then another, and then Josie, Hope’s lovely girlfriend. She was talking with so much enthusiasm that even Hope herself couldn’t help but be amazed by her.

“Our hotel has so much to offer,” Josie told everyone with a determined voice.

Hope could see the committee nodding their heads and smiling at all of them. Then it was Hope’s time to speak. She had practiced this, she knew that she remembered everything. She had this in the bag.

“The hotel management system that the hotel uses was developed to be very user-friendly,” Hope explained to everyone. She was very nervous and she felt her legs, voice, god even her whole body shake as she spoke. “It’s uhh… It was created by having strong knowledge in programming and its main purpose is to process and store data about the guests.”

Hope then changed the slide by accident before she was finished talking and she tried to not let anyone know that she screwed up. Her teammates noticed but pretended that everything was okay and kept smiling. Josie put a reassuring hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder as Hope continued speaking then about how the management system was created and about other technical things. As she changed a few more slides, the nervousness was finally dying down and she became more confident in speaking in front of the audience.

In the end, the second to last slide came and they all gave out brochures, pamphlets, showed everyone some of the invoices they’ve filled out and the poster that they made for the hotel. They handed out some to the jury and the audience to look through. Finally, the last slide came and Hope told the audience, “Thank you for you attention.”

Everyone then started clapping as the whole team smiled in satisfaction. Josie thought that things went pretty well, even though her girlfriend was so nervous while speaking. She believed that everyone did a great job and there was no doubt in her mind that they can actually be in 1 st  place at this competition.

“Now it’s time for questions,” Mr. Tim Harris said with enthusiasm. “Let me start us off by asking what kind of compensation your hotel gives to the guests who are unsatisfied?”

“Since we try to give the guests the most pleasant experience possible, there are rarely guests who are unsatisfied, but if something does happen and this situation occurs, the hotel offers a large discount or just gives them their money back and let’s them stay for free for their planned vacation,” Josie answered the question and the judge nodded.

“I’d like to hear more about how your marketing campaign is organized,” Mrs. Alex Wheeler from the judges asked them.

That was Landon’s part, so he answered the question with ease, explaining to to her how they used Google Ads to create it and how they use Social Media to increase the online presence of their company.

Mrs. Janet Murphy then jumped in after the boy finished talking, “I think your team did an amazing job with this project. I can see how much effort you put in, so I don’t really have any questions for you. I just want to congratulate you on the job well done!”

Then the whole room busts in applause yet again and the team went back to their assigned seats. The other groups went on with their presentations. Some were pretty good in Josie’s opinion, but others were really bad. Overall, everyone was kind of at the same level.

When the last presentation for the day ended, Mr. Tim Harris announced that the results would be ready tomorrow morning and they would be announced at exactly 11 AM.

This gave the team a chance to chill and relax for the rest of the day. Josie and Hope smiled at each other, satisfied that they’d get to spend the rest of the day hanging out or maybe making out in their room, whichever was fine, but both of them probably preferred the second option.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, comments, etc are much appreciated! Thank you all for reading!


	12. Results are in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The results of the competition are finally announced. Will our team make it to first place? Read to find out ;)

“It’s time to announce the results everyone. I’d like to congratulate you all on the splendid work you did during this competition,” the organizer Mr. Tim Harris told everyone gathered in the big conference hall. “After this competition is over, you’ll have a few more days in LA to relax and enjoy yourselves before you go back to your respected cities.”

Josie was shaking in anticipation due to the announcement of the results. She wanted to win this so badly and make everyone proud of her. This competition will open up so many doors for her to study at a prestigious university. She will finally be able to meet the expectations that people have of her. She hates this, but maybe, just maybe, if everyone is pleased with her, she’ll feel better, less stressed.

“The other judges and I have went through everything. We took into consideration the initial scores with which you entered this competition and also how you did in all of the rounds. The presentation has the biggest impact, of course,” Mr. Tim Harris explained to everyone. “The results are very close and it was such a hard decision.”

The suspense was building up so much as people waited for the results to be revealed. At first the organizer gave some participation certificates to the teams that didn’t do all that well and didn’t make the top 10. The captains of each team went up on the stage, shook Mr. Tim Harris’s hand and took the certificate from him. There were people taking pictures of him with the candidates as well, so that they would later be uploaded on the official Facebook page and website.

When they began announcing the top 10 teams, Josie felt her heart rate increase and she became even more nervous. Hope noticed this and quickly took Josie’s hand in hers in order to calm her down. She then whispered in her ear with a soothing voice, “Don’t worry, babe. Just relax”

Josie immediately closed her eyes and smiled. She was so happy about the fact that she has the most amazing and caring girlfriend in the world. She was so lucky to have Hope, so she gave her hand a light squeeze. At that moment she wanted to kiss the girl for being so perfect. She didn’t care that there were so many people around them. Nobody would pay attention that two girls were holding hands, especially at a moment like this one. It felt normal.

Mr. Tim Harris announced teams which finished in places from 10 till 5 and luckily Josie’s team wasn’t one of them, which meant that they definitely made it to the top 5.

Josie then heard their team being announced in 3rd place and she immediately felt like she wanted to die. 3rd place was not the one she was aiming for, she really wanted and needed to take home the gold not the bronze. Josie looked mortified and couldn’t move from her seat at all. She felt like she was going to faint as all her worries came crashing down on her. 3rd place meant that her mother would be extremely disappointed and that the most prestigious universities wouldn’t even consider taking her. Nobody remembers 3rd place. Everyone only cares about 1st and Josie knew that. When she hadn’t moved, Hope decided to just go up there and take the prize.

The girl needed to do this for Josie because she saw how badly she had reacted to the announcement. She knew how important this was to her and even though Hope thought that 3rd place was still amazing and that they should be proud, she knew that Josie badly wanted to win and for their team to be 1st. _This is probably my fault. I screwed up and they lowered our points. _Hope thought as she remembered how she didn’t know most of the answers on the test and how nervous she was when they were presenting their company. 

Josie was still not moving a muscle. It was like her mind just switched off and she didn’t register anything going on around her. Suddenly she felt someone put their hand on her shoulder. It was Maya who told her not to worry and that they should be very proud of this accomplishment. She told her that 3 rd place was still really amazing and not many teams manage to get there. 

“This is all that Amanda girl’s fault. I was disqualified because of her. That’s where we lost so many points,” Josie just said quietly to everyone as Hope came back and sat next to her. “This is so unfair...”

“If they win, it’s because they had connections and they got away with cheating,” Dana said and sighed. “That’s how it is with competitions like this one...”

“It’s the same with Basketball too by the way,” Hope explained to everyone. “A lot of teams win by cheating one way or another and since they have connections, they can get away with it.”

“That’s so stupid. Goddamn it...” Josie said as tears began welling up in her eyes. “You guys are right, though. I’m so extremely proud of all the effort you guys put into this project.” She sucked up all the disappointment and anger at that moment. The reassurance that she needed to give her team and telling them that she was a proud leader was more important. Everyone then smiled at her and told her how much they enjoyed working on the project with her and that she was an amazing leader.

“Now it’s time to announce the 1st place winner!” Mr. Tim Harris said after the 2nd place team’s leader went back to his seat. “It’s none other than the New York team! Everyone please applaud them for their amazing work!”

Everyone but Josie’s team gave them applause. They were pissed off at how unfair this situation was. 

When Amanda got up on stage, she asked for a microphone so she could say a few words to everyone.

“I’d like to thank all the judges, teachers and participants in this event. You were amazing and I’m so glad that we all got to compete with honor and dignity,” the girl was saying with a smile on her face and so many people believed her words.

“God, she’s so two-faced. She’s horrible. How can she go up and say these things after she cheated,” Josie sighed and felt a bit sad that there was nothing they could do. Even if they tell the jury that Amanda cheated, nobody would believe them. It was their word against everybody else’s and Amanda had these people wrapped around her finger.

“Don’t worry, she’ll get what’s coming to her eventually,” Hope jumped in. “Karma’s a bitch, you know. Girls like her always get what they deserve.”

“You’re right. I just wish it was sooner rather than later.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


After the results were announced, Josie and her team received a lot of congratulations from the judges, teachers, especially Mr. Vardemus, who was the proudest they had ever seen him. They then decided to spend the rest of the day with him, going around the city and just relaxing now that the competition was over.

The team and their teacher ended up in a super huge mall in Los Angeles. There were so many things they could do there and everyone was really excited.

The team and Mr. Vardemus went inside H&M because Maya and Dana wanted to buy some clothes while they were in LA. Josie also immediately found a lot of things that she liked to try on and was just picking out everything. She had like 5 articles and gave another 5 to Hope for her to carry. She told her to come with her to the dressing rooms because one person can’t go in there with more than 5 articles. She put everything she and Hope were carrying on the hangers inside the dressing room and closed the curtains, so she could try them on.

As Hope was waiting for her Josie made her give her opinion on the different items that she was trying on. She would ask her if she looked fat or if this was the right size for her.

Josie tried a few blouses and some skinny jeans, which Hope thought looked amazing on her girlfriend, but Josie for some reason didn’t like any of them.

She then tried on this really cute white shirt and an adorable skirt that went along with it. When she showed the outfit to Hope, the girl’s eyes widened and she gulped. She was in awe at how amazingly beautiful Josie looked. No, it wasn’t just beautiful. She looked very sexy as well and Hope just couldn’t say anything. She was at a loss of words.

“I’d take it that I look good in this judging from your reaction,” Josie giggled and then turned around to look at herself in the mirror.

As Josie was running her hands along the length of the skirt, she suddenly felt two arms wrap around her body, hugging her from behind. Hope had broken free from her trance, went inside the dressing room with her and had closed the curtain.

“You look absolutely amazing in this outfit,” the girl whispered in Josie’s ear and began unbuttoning her shirt with her hands. “But right now I’d like you a lot more without it.”

“Hope, it’s a public place,” Josie said in a low voice to her girlfriend as she felt Hope finish unbuttoning the shirt and her fingers gently caressing the bare skin of her stomach. “We shouldn’t be doing this. What if we get caught?”

“We won’t if you can stay quiet, baby...” Hope said, her voice low and a bit raspy. The girl then turned Josie around and gently pushed her against the mirror, then began leaving soft kisses along her neck.

“Hope...” Josie let a slight moan escape her mouth as she felt her girlfriend’s lips on her neck.

“Shhh, quiet,” Hope said in between kisses. “As much as I love hearing you moan my name, right now you need to be as quiet as possible.”

Josie then felt the girl’s hands cup her breasts through her lacy black bra and gently squeeze them. _Oh my god… _

“You’re driving me crazy,” Josie uttered, making Hope smirk in satisfaction.

“Hey, how long are you gonna stay in there?!” both girls suddenly heard the unfamiliar voice of an old woman. “I have some panties that I want to try for my husband. You know, we gotta keep things exciting in the bedroom.”

_Way to ruin the mood… _ Both girls thought and felt extremely frustrated because this granny interrupted them.

“Aren’t there other dressing rooms in which you can go in, ma’am?” Josie suddenly asked from behind the curtain.

“No, I want yours. I always try clothes in the one you’re in. How much longer do I have to wait?” the granny said with an annoyed voice.

“We’ll be out in a minute. My friend is just helping me with something,” Josie told her and Hope sighed, frustrated because she wanted to continue with the sexy time she and Josie had been sharing.

Soon both of them were out of the room with all the articles of clothing in their hands and the granny just rudely went past them and inside the dressing room they had previously occupied.

“What a bitch...” Josie just muttered under her breath as she and Hope afterwards made their way to the cashier, so the girl could buy that super hot outfit that Hope liked so much.

“We’ll continue what we started in our hotel room, don’t you worry,” Hope told her with a huge grin on her face.

“Indeed we will,” Josie replied while smirking at her girlfriend. 

They wanted each other so badly that all the sexual frustration at that moment was practically killing them.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Everyone ready for milkshakes?” Mr. Vardemus asked his students and brought a large tray with 7 milkshakes, all different flavors. 

His students all smiled widely and thought that he was such a sweet teacher for getting these.

“Yeah!” they all yelled out in unison, making Mr. Vardemus laugh. He was enjoying the company of his students so much. He hadn’t been so happy in a really long time. This was the first team that he trained that had reached such a high place at this competition. _They are exceptional indeed. _

“I’m so proud of all of you,” Mr. Vardemus told them with so much feeling in his voice. “When we get back home, I’ll have the principal allow you guys to present your virtual enterprise in front of other students and teachers at our school, so they could see how much effort you put into this.”

Everyone except Hope was so happy about this because they loved presenting, but Hope was a jock, basketball was her thing, and she was sure that her teammates on the basketball team would make fun of her when they see her present, especially her best friend  Penelope . She had teased her for hanging out with the nerds, that’s how she described Josie and the others, after school while they were working on the project for the last few weeks. If she actually were to see her in action, presenting, then Hope wouldn’t hear the end of it. 

The girl pretended and smiled widely with the others when she heard Mr. Vardemus’s words but deep down, she was dreading those upcoming presentations. At least she got to boost up her grade and would continue playing basketball.

“So, now that this project is over, I was thinking that maybe we could do some other things at the Economics club,” Josie said to everyone with excitement in her voice. “There are some events that maybe we can take part in?”

“I agree. There is this workshop that I got a notification for on Facebook,” Maya jumped into the conversation.

“That sounds so fun. We can totally do it!” Dana yelled out and put her arms in the air excitedly.

“That sounds wonderful,” Mr. Vardemus said and took a sip from his milkshake. “Oh by the way, Hope, your grade will be an A for this term, so you don’t have to worry about being able to play Basketball.”

“Thank you, Mr. Vardemus,” Hope told him. “I had a lot of fun working with all of you on this project.”

“Will you be able to still take part in the other events?” Rafael suddenly asked curiously.

“I’m not sure honestly. I don’t think I will be able to because there is a big Basketball championship tournament coming up and I have to train even harder if I want to get scouted,” Hope said, her voice a bit sad because she did want to work with them more since these events did sound fun and she would also get to spend more time with Josie. 

If someone had told Hope a few months ago that she’d work on Economics projects, she would’ve laughed at that person’s face. But it had grown on her. She just didn’t really like presenting in front of people. It was different with Basketball. She was in the spotlight but it just felt different for her, like that was her thing. Economics was Josie’s. She was really good at it and Hope wouldn’t be able to match her. While with Basketball, it felt like she was born to play.

“Oh...” Everyone suddenly felt really sad after they heard Hope’s words. Especially Josie because she wanted to spend as much time with her girlfriend as possible.

“It’s alright. It was fun while it lasted, right?” Mr. Vardemus said while smiling. “I know all of us will be cheering you on at your basketball games, Hope!”

“Thank you all so much!” 

At that moment Hope felt so grateful that she had so much support from the teacher, her friends, and especially her beautiful girlfriend Josie Saltzman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. <3 
> 
> Hosie is life! ;)


	13. Jealousy is a bitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter when they are in LA guys. In the next chapter they'll be back home, so no more Hosie make out sessions in hotel rooms :D sadly... 
> 
> Enjoy! <3

During the last day of their stay in LA, the team decided to enjoy some time in the hotel’s amazing swimming pool. The weather was wonderful, sunny and warm, being in the water felt great, but the thing Hope enjoyed most of all was the fact that she’d get to see Josie in just a swim suit.

“Babe, can you help me put some sunblock on my back?” Josie asked her girlfriend while holding a bottle in her hand. They were in their hotel room, getting ready to head out.

“Sure,” Hope replied and took the sunblock from Josie, then moved behind her. The taller girl moved her hair to the side, so it wouldn’t get in the way.

Then Josie felt her girlfriend’s hand over her back, moving gently and applying the sunblock. It made her breathing become harder and slower. Hope touching her and being so close was just absolutely breathtaking.

“How’s that babe?” Hope whispered in Josie’s ear, receiving a soft hum in response. She then smiled as her hands went to her girlfriend’s shoulders and then slowly moved down along her slender arms, afterwards taking Josie’s hands in her own and hugging her from behind as she was holding them. “You have no idea how sexy you are right now in just your swim suit”

“Really now? You think I’m sexy?” Josie smirked and turned around to face her girlfriend. “Want to know what’s sexier?”

Hope nodded as soon as she heard the girl’s words and Josie just leaned in and kissed her, her hands now free from Hope’s and wrapped around her girlfriend’s waist. “Your lips against mine.” Josie uttered in between kisses.

“Mm, yeah, that’s definitely much sexier,” Hope agreed and continued kissing her girlfriend. “I wish I could kiss you forever...”

“Me too, babe...” Josie said softly, “I want to kiss you for all eternity. I want you and only you forever.”

The thought of always and forever was stuck in both girls’ heads and they were so incredibly happy about that. They just loved being with each other so much. They were stuck in their own little world and wished that they would never get out of there, for their feelings to absolutely never change. They wanted to be this in love with each other forever.

A few minutes later, there was a sudden knock on the door that made both girls groan because they wanted to continue enjoying each other physically, but they had to see who’s at the door. Hope opened it with Josie closely behind her and they both saw Maya and Dana there.

“Hey guys, are you ready to go swimming?” Maya asked both of them cheerfully and moved past them to get inside the room as if it was hers. Dana followed her and they both just sat down on the bed.

Honestly, Hope and Josie were a little annoyed by this, but they didn’t say anything.

“Yeah, we’re ready to go,” Hope told them and managed to force a smile. She kinda maybe didn’t want to go anymore and just wanted to spend even more time with Josie in the hotel room. Josie felt the same way but both girls knew that they had to do something different this time. It was their last day in L.A. and they couldn’t spend it cooped up in their hotel room all day like most of the trip. As much as they enjoyed it, it wasn’t really healthy.

“Good, because we’ve been ready for about an hour and were waiting for you guys to call us, so we can go to the swimming pool together, but since you didn’t, we had to come in and check on you,” Dana explained and Josie mentally facepalmed. She really did text one of them like 40 minutes ago and had told them that they’ll be ready soon and she’ll reply when they are, but Hope really distracted her and she completely forgot. _Damn it…_

“Sorry guys, we were kind of distracted,” Josie explained and both girls just went “Oooooh..” and then Maya continued with “You were talking about boys, weren’t you? I bet you were telling Hope all about how you’re super into Landon, right?”

“What? No! We weren’t talking about boys and how many times do I have to tell you that I’m not into Landon! He probably likes me but it’s not mutual. I have no interest in him,” Josie told her with a little pissed of tone in her voice. 

Hope felt her blood boiling at the mention that Landon likes Josie and the thought of her girlfriend ever being with him or returning his feelings made her feel sick. She hated being jealous. It was one of the worst feelings in the world to her but she couldn’t help it. She wanted Josie all to herself and didn’t want to share her with anybody else.

“Yeah, sure.. If you say so, Jo,” Dana jumped in, not believing what the girl was saying at all. Both her and Maya then smiled and stood up from the bed. Josie was about to say something but then one of them exclaimed, “Let’s go swimming!”

Everyone then headed off to the pool to have some fun. Hope was being awfully quiet during the whole way there, which worried Josie a little. She wondered if she was okay.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked her girlfriend and gently poked her shoulder.

“Nothing. I’m fine,” Hope just replied and continued walking without so much as looking at Josie.

“You’re clearly not. Tell me what happened, please! Did I do something?” Josie pleaded, but Hope just told her, “You didn’t do anything. Let’s not make a scene right now. There are way too many people around us.”

Josie sighed and just let it be for the time being. But she was determined to find out what was wrong and she was going to make Hope tell her one way or another.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hope didn’t even want to go inside the pool anymore. She was just sitting there next to it on one of the chairs sulking. Josie kept pestering her to tell her what’s wrong. She was doing anything in her power to make the other girl smile, but nothing seemed to work. That’s how Hope got when she was jealous. She would just get lost in her thoughts, completely zoning out from everything and everyone until she stopped feeling this way or the problem was resolved.

“Jo, Hope! Come inside. The water is amazing!” Dana yelled out and splashed some water at them, which made Hope feel even more annoyed. Josie chuckled, though, and looked at her girlfriend with that super cute soft expression, “Please come inside the pool with me.” She then put her hand over Hope’s without caring that anyone could see them and think that it was weird.

Hope sighed, but didn’t say anything. She did cave in a little and stood up, then took Josie’s hand and led her to the pool.

  


* * *

They had a lot of fun playing around in the water, occasionally touching each other without anyone looking. It was thrilling, knowing that you’re doing something that you’re not supposed to and both of them loved it. Hope’s mood kinda brightened up a little bit after that and she finally began smiling again, just enjoying the moment with her girlfriend and forgetting about her jealousy. Well, that is until a certain someone splashed water at them and sneaked up on Josie from under the water.

Of course it was Landon, why wouldn’t it be…

“Landon, let me go!” Josie yelled out as the boy lifted her up. She was practically swung over his shoulders. The girl tried getting him to put her down by slapping his back but he wouldn’t let her go.

Everyone was laughing because they thought the scene was hilarious, except Hope obviously. She was burning up from the inside and wanted nothing more than to wipe that damn smile off the boy’s face. But she couldn’t, nobody could know that she and Josie were together. She was powerless and just had to deal with it. The jealousy was overwhelming her so Hope did the only thing she could and just got out of the pool as quickly as possible and headed for the bathroom near it.

Once she was inside one of the stalls, she sat on the toilet and just buried her face in her hands, feeling so frustrated. She wanted to scream so loudly because she hated how jealous she felt.

About 15 minutes in, Hope heard someone come into the bathroom and she expected it to be her girlfriend, coming here to comfort her. It should have been, but… it wasn’t. It was just some random girls. One of them knocked on the door.

“It’s occupied,” Hope just said and waited for like a minute before just flushing the toilet, pretending that she had actually used it for its correct purpose, or well, anything other than sitting on it and feeling sorry for herself. 

Hope then walked out and one of the girls got inside the stall. She washed her hands and then got out of the bathroom. She then noticed that Josie was still inside the pool, playing some game with the others and she was on Landon’s team. Hope just clenched her fists in anger and decided to go back to their room. She couldn’t stand being at that pool anymore.

  
  


* * *

  
  


It took about 30 minutes before Hope heard a knock on the door. Josie couldn’t get in because she didn’t have the key. They only gave them one and it was currently with Hope inside the room. She was debating whether or not to let the girl in.

“Hope, are you in there?” Josie asked from behind the door and continued knocking.

Hope then saw her phone’s screen light up, indicating that she had received a text message. It was from her girlfriend, asking her where she  was . Hope sighed and decided to ignore the message and just go face Josie straight on.

When she finally opened the door, Josie just stood there, looking a bit pissed off.

“What’s wrong with you?” she just asked Hope, her voice stern.

“Are you seriously asking me that right now?” Hope replied immediately. It hurt her when she heard those words coming out of her girlfriend’s mouth. Had she not noticed her running out of the pool and into the bathroom, did she like spending so much time with Landon that it took her more than 30 minutes to come find her.

“Did I do something wrong? Why are you being like this?” Josie asked again, obviously having no clue about the whole situation. She walked past her girlfriend and went inside the room. Hope closed the door behind her and then just decided to answer her.

“Oh well, let’s see. How was the game with your new boyfriend? Did you have a lot of fun when he was lifting you up in the pool?”

Then it finally clicked. Josie finally understood what had happened and why her girlfriend was asking this way.

“Oh my god, are you seriously jealous right now?” she asked her girlfriend and sat down on the bed.

Hope stood up right in front of her, super annoyed at everything that had happened.

“He’s obviously all over you. How do you expect me to be fine with that?” Hope explained and Josie just let out a sigh.  
  
“I already said when Maya and Dana were here that I’m not into him,” Joice told her with the most sincere voice, “Don’t you believe me?”

Her voice was so soft and Josie even grabbed Hope’s hand and pulled her closer. “I want you, only you… Nobody else, Hope!”

Josie was on the verge of tears at that moment. She desperately wanted Hope to believe her when she told her that she doesn’t want anybody else but her.

And Hope finally did… She cracked. She sighed and felt all the jealousy and anger disappear immediately when she got reassurance that Josie want ed only her.

“I’m sorry. I’m just so scared of losing you,” Hope explained and kneeled down in front of Josie. She then leaned in and pressed her lips against her girlfriend’s for a short gentle kiss.

“I know, babe. I’m scared of losing you too. You’re like the only good thing in my life right now. I’d be a fool to screw this up,” Josie wanted Hope to know that she’s not going anywhere, that this thing that they have is actually real, that she’s here to stay. “Promise me that you won’t worry anymore about me and Landon, okay?”

“Ugh… fine, but the thing is that I just don’t like somebody else touching you,” Hope told her and looked away shyly.

“You’re so adorable right now, being all possessive,” Josie said and placed a short and sweet kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. 

Hope smiled and felt really really happy that things were all better now.

“Let’s go spend the rest of the day hanging out somewhere, doing something fun! What do you say?” she then asked and Josie just nodded her head. Both girls then stood up and left their room, prepared for another day full of fun moments and occasional secret make out sessions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jealous Hope is so funny to write. I love her. <3 Thank you all for commenting, leaving kudos, etc. I appreciate it! <3 You guys are awesome!


	14. Oh shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're back from LA. Shit is gonna go down in this chapter. Just a heads up :D Enjoyyy! <3

The girls were finally back at school after the competition and it was like they were super famous movie stars to all the teachers. Everyone kept congratulating them when they would see them in the school halls. Josie was at the top of the ladder when it came to receiving congratulations. The teachers absolutely loved her and everyone wanted to her questions about the competitions. A meeting with the school principal was even scheduled, photos were taken and everything.

At first Josie loved it, because she felt like they had actually done something worthwhile even though they didn’t win 1st place. It felt like the whole competition wasn’t pointless just because they didn’t win. Honestly, people say that nobody remembers the 2nd and 3rd place winners, but Josie felt like in this moment, all of the teachers in the school will remember their team’s accomplishments forever.

School was the only place where Josie felt appreciated. She wasn’t getting that kind of treatment at home. Her mother continued to drive her crazy because of the competition, saying things like “You could’ve done better, Josie!” or “You should’ve won 1st place. 3rd place is such an embarrassment!”

Josie hated it so much that her mother wasn’t proud of her and diminished all the hard work she had done for the competition. Why couldn’t she just be happy for her like everybody else? Why couldn’t she praise her?

Josie felt super depressed when she had to come home every day after school, so she tried to avoid it as much as possible by taking up extra work at school and occasionally going to Hope’s house when the girl didn’t have basketball practice.

It was hard for both girls. They were so used to spending all their time together in LA when they were at the competition that now it just sucked because they were both so busy and could barely see each other, even at school. They would text as much as they could, though, it was still something. They could sneak off behind the school building for maximum 5 minutes a day and just kiss for a while, enjoying each other. That was all they could get during school hours because Josie was either working on the Economics stuff, preparing for the next competition and Hope was training like crazy for her basketball tournament. It was so sad, but both girls managed to deal with it.

Hope was sitting on one of the benches in the locker rooms and scrolling though her phone, trying to get her mind off the fact that Josie hadn’t texted her for more than an hour. Practice was finally over for the day and Hope needed to change and head home, but she just stood there hoping that her girlfriend would text her and they could meet up.

“What are you still doing here, Hope?” Penelope asked her best friend and eyed her curiously.

“Oh… I’m waiting for my brother to text me and tell me if we’re meeting up later,” the girl lied because she didn’t want Penelope to know that she has a girlfriend and had been hanging out with Josie.

“Cool! I’m glad that you’re not going to work with those nerds from that economics shit thing,” Penelope’s voice was super bitchy and it was obvious that for some reason she didn’t like Josie and the others. “Do you know how hard it was for me when you were in LA with them for such a long time. I missed you, man.”

Hope was a little annoyed that Penelope was talking shit about her girlfriend and new friends but she couldn’t let it show just how much it bothered her, so she went along with her.

“Yeah, I’m glad I don’t have to spend time with them too. They only talk about boring school stuff,” Hope lied, trying to convince her best friend that she hated the Economics team too.

“So I guess that picture and those comments that you left on the group photo in LA was all just an act? You were pretending to be nice to them,” Penelope proudly said and fist bumped her best friend. “It would be a shame if you actually enjoyed the company of those geeks.”

“Yeah, yeah… don’t be crazy. You know I’m too cool for those losers!”

Hope needed to keep up the act so Penelope wouldn’t get suspicious.

“Hope, may I speak to you for a second,” suddenly both girls heard their coach’s voice coming from behind them and they both turned around. Hope nodded and immediately went to see what’s going on.

Penelope decided to wait for Hope so they could hang out a bit more. They hadn’t seen each other for a while and Penelope really did miss spending time with her best friend. As she was waiting she heard something vibrating from inside Hope’s bag. She decided to open it and see what it was. The girl searched inside and saw that Hope’s phone was lighting up and vibrating like crazy because someone was sending her so many text messages one after another.

She tried to open them but Hope’s phone had a password lock. The only thing she could see was the small notification and who it was from.

“Josie Saltzman,” Penelope read out the name. She was confused and wondered since when do her best friend and this nerd text so much. She was interested in the fact that if Josie was willing to blow up Hope’s phone like that, then maybe they must be close or Hope is pulling a really amazing prank by pretending to care and getting the nerd to trust her, then stab her in the back afterwards. The only message that Penelope could see was “Are we hanging out later?” and she was now really intrigued about what’s going on. Either way the girl thought she should get to the bottom of things.

She heard Hope and the coach coming back, so she immediately put her best friend’s phone back in her back and zipped it up.

“Girls, I have to head out. Don’t slack off now, got it? I need you both at your best game for the upcoming tournament!” the coach told them and then left the locker room.

Afterwards Penelope immediately asked her best friend about her conversation with their coach.

“What’s up? What did the coach want to talk about?”

“Oh just some stuff about a new training schedule to keep me in shape for the tournament,” Hope explained and Penelope just nodded.

“Your bag was vibrating earlier. Do you have some sex toys in there or something? I didn’t know you were such a perv, Hope!” Penelope decided to tease her best friend.

“Uhh… no it was probably just my phone,” the girl explained while looking away, her face red with embarrassment at the comments that Penelope was making. “Yeah, my brother texted me. We’re gonna spend some time together.”

Hope lied again for god knows which time that day as she texted Josie back, telling her too meet her later and Penelope immediately knew that there was something suspicious going on now between her best friend and that nerd.

“I haven’t seen your brother in a while. I think I’m gonna join you guys. That cool?” she decided to invite herself, making Hope’s eyes go wide with panic.

“Uhh, well… Sorry, Pen, but he told me that he wants to talk to me about something important and I guess it would be better if it was just me and him,” Hope tried to give a believable explanation as to why Penelope can’t come with them, making her best friend disappointed.

“Oh… Well, I guess another time then.”

“Yeah, I gotta go now,” Hope told her best friend and gave her a quick hug before storming off, feeling kinda guilty that she lied about everything.

* * *

  
  


“God, I love kissing you...” Josie whispered against her girlfriend’s lips as they were in a heated make out session on the couch in Hope’s living room. She was addicted and just couldn’t get enough of the girl.

“Not as much as me, babe...” Hope told her as her hand slid under Josie’s shirt, making the girl shiver at the contact. “You’re so amazing.”

“I wish we could spend all our time together like in LA. It’s been so hard not being able to see you much since we got back,” Josie said breathlessly as Hope began leaving small kisses all over her neck.

“I know. I feel the same way,” Hope told her and pulled away, making Josie miss the contact. “It’s even harder when we have to hide from everyone.”

“Tell me about it… My parents would freak out if they find out.”

Suddenly both girls were interrupted by a small sound coming from Josie’s phone which was left on the table. She received some kind of notification and Josie quickly reached out to grab it. When she opened it, her eyes went wide.

  
  


**Penelope Park tagged you and 4 others in a post.**

  
  


“Uhm, your friend tagged me and the others on some post in the school’s Facebook group,” Josie told her girlfriend and Hope immediately took her phone to look.

It was some post about the biggest loser competition where all the students had to vote in a poll for either Josie, Maya, Dana, Landon or Rafael to find out who’s the biggest loser at school. They could also leave suggestions for other students, but nobody wrote anyone else.

“This is so stupid. I’m going to kill Penelope Park!” Hope said angrily when she saw what her best friend did.

Josie’s mood immediately went south and she felt incredibly bad about the fact that she and her friends were being mocked like that. She wondered whether Penelope was right and if everybody at school hated them.

“She’s probably right. Maybe we really are losers...”

Josie’s voice cracked as she uttered those words and she felt tears forming in her eyes.

“No, don’t you dare say that. People are just jealous because you guys are absolutely amazing and all the teachers love you!” Hope tried to comfort her girlfriend. “You’re the most wonderful and beautiful girl I’ve ever met. I can’t imagine being with anyone else. You’re not a loser, trust me.”

Hope made Josie smile with her words and she immediately leaned in and began kissing her girlfriend. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was for having such an amazing girl believing in her and cheering her up whenever she needed it.

“I’d like to show you just how wonderful I think you are,” Hope whispered and then began unbuttoning her girlfriend’s shirt. She wanted to touch her so badly, to get to know every little detail of her body.

Both girls were grateful that they were alone in Hope’s house, so they could have their private time.

Josie was lying down on the couch with her girlfriend on top of her. Her shirt was unbuttoned, giving Hope the beautiful sight of Josie in her gorgeous pink bra. She stood there for a few seconds admiring the view before leaning down and placing kisses all over her neck, then trailing down to between her boobs. At the same time her hands were roaming around Josie’s body, moving over her thighs and then to her belly, making the girl go absolutely crazy. She loved hearing the soft moans coming out of Josie’s mouth.

As the girls were enjoying their heated moment, they didn’t hear the door to Hope’s place unlocking. Someone had come home earlier than planned.

Hope’s brother Marcel had forgotten his history textbook, so he decided to drop by and get it before heading off to work on a project with one of his classmates. He heard some noises coming from the living room, some pretty sexual noises. Marcel decided to take a peek and see what’s going on there. So many images flashed before his eyes of his parents doing it on the couch in different sexual positions. He then saw his sister on top of someone.

“Damn, Hope is getting some. That’s my sister!” Marcel felt proud that his sister was finally getting some action. He’s always wondered when she’d start hooking up with guys. But the smirk on his face was soon replaced with a shocked expression when he noticed that his sister was actually kissing a girl, not a dude. He couldn’t believe his eyes. To him this was so abnormal, disgusting and he just couldn’t accept it.

“Hope, what the hell are you doing? Why are you with a girl?!” the boy suddenly entered the living room and yelled at his sister. Both girl immediately pulled away from each other and stared at him in shock.

“Marcel, wait. It’s just...” Hope tried to explain but her brother continued yelling.

“How can you do such a disgusting thing? Do you know how embarrassing it would be for me if my sister was a lesbian? Do you know what this will do to the reputation of our family?!” Marcel was so pissed off. Hope had never seen him this mad before. “You, you did this to my sister.” he then turned to Josie and was now yelling at her. “You made her a lesbian! I want out of this house now and don’t you dare talk to my sister again!”

“Marcel! Shut up!” Now Hope was the one who yelled. “Do you hear me?! Shut the hell up!”

She got off the couch and was now face to face with her brother, her hands on his shoulders. The boy finally stood silent.

“If you ever say anything bad to my girlfriend again, you’re dead to me. This is not abnormal, we love each other. How can loving someone be disgusting?” Hope told him with a threatening tone in her voice.

“It is. It’s just wrong,” Marcel just muttered under his breath.

At the same time, Josie buttoned up her shirt and got up to leave. She then quickly said, “Hope, it’s better if I go. You have a lot to discuss with your brother.”

“I have nothing more to say to him. I’m not going to stop seeing you because he thinks it’s wrong,” Hope explained and Josie shook her head.

“You two have to talk, trust me, don’t be stubborn. Please, I’m going to go now. Promise me that you’ll sort this out,” Josie told her and then headed for the door. Hope tried to go after her but her brother got in her way, stopping her right in her tracks.

“Stop seeing her or I’ll tell mom and dad,” Marcel threatened his sister and Hope felt so scared. She hated this. She hated how her family was. The only thing she wanted at that moment was to be in her girlfriend’s arms and have all her problems disappear. “I only want what’s best for you, Hope...”

“What? Are you kidding me right now?” Hope couldn’t believe him. “Josie makes me the happiest I’ve ever been. How can my own brother want to take away that from me?”

“It’s for your own good, Hope...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, her brother wasn't too happy about Hosie... My dad kinda reacted the same way when he found out about me and my ex years ago. It sucks. I feel bad for Hope and Josie, but it just had to happen. 
> 
> The whole story is kinda based on my relationship with my ex... so guys, be prepared for some angst from now on in the later chapters and till the end of the story. It's not gonna be all the time, but there's gonna be some pretty bad moments soon. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading! <3


	15. You're jealous of everything

Hope stormed off to her room after her brother threatened her to tell their parents about her relationship with Josie. She then didn’t come out until dinner time when they were forced to spend time together along with their parents. Thankfully, Marcel didn’t mention anything. Hope was relieved at that.

“Hope, how’s the basketball training going?” Klaus asked his daughter curiously. “I expect you to be on your best game during the tournament!”

“Yeah, I’m training hard, dad,” Hope told him and her father smiled

“Good. You need to win for the sake of the family’s reputation. You know that!”

That was all this was about. The damn family’s reputation. It was all her father cared about.

“I’m sure everything will be fine, honey,” Hayley said and placed a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Hope is a great basketball player”

“She needs to be the best. Great doesn’t cut it! She needs to destroy her competition!” Klaus said sternly, getting annoyed and Hope hated it. She was so frustrated at all the expectations her father had of her.

Marcel just listened without saying anything to his father. He felt sorry for his sister. _No wonder she’s so messed up..._ Marcel thought and continued eating his food.

Later that night, at around 11 PM, Marcel knocked on his sister’s door because he wanted to talk to her. He felt a bit bad about how he reacted when he caught her making out with a girl. He was just surprised and lost his temper.

“Come in,” Hope said and the boy walked inside her room.

“Can we talk?” he asked and Hope looked at him with an expression he couldn’t read.

“I have nothing to say to you,” the girl told him and Marcel just sighed but didn’t leave.

“Please, I’m sorry. I overreacted today. Let’s talk about it...”

“Fine...” Hope just replied and the boy closed the door behind him and sat on the bed next to his sister.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I was wrong, Hope...” Marcel explained to her. “I was just surprised to see you with a girl. I don’t really understand it, it’s against my beliefs, but you were right. If it makes you happy, then there’s nothing wrong with it.”

Hope smiled as soon as she heard her brother’s words and went in for a hug. The girl wrapped her arms around him and felt loved, understood, like someone was finally on her side.

* * *

[11:27 PM]

“Go to bed soon, Josie! It’s a school night. Can’t have you ruining your perfect grades like you did the competition because you stayed up late!” Caroline scolded her daughter, making Josie roll her eyes in annoyance.

“Okay, mom...”

Oh how she hated how horribly her mother treated her. She only cared about Josie’s grades and never appreciated how hard the girl was working to get them.

“I mean what kind of mother would I be if I continue letting you ruin your life. At this rate you won’t get into a good university,” Caroline continued scolding. It was just how she was. Once she starts, she just doesn’t shut up.

“Mom, I got it. I told you. I will go to sleep soon,” Josie answered back and lied down on her bed.

“You finished your assignments, right?” her mother asked and Josie nodded.

She really did finish them a few hours ago. They weren’t that difficult, so she had no problems with that, but her mother never seemed to trust her and always asked her whether she did them or not.

After her mother left her alone, Josie took her phone and saw that she had a lot of messages from Hope.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: Hey, cutie! <3**

**Hope Mikaelson: My brother and I talked things out. He’s fine with us and didn’t say anything to my parents. ^_^**

**Hope Mikaelson: It sucks so much that we have to keep our relationship a secret.**

**Hope Mikaelson: If I could, I would shout out to the whole world how I have such a gorgeous and amazing girlfriend! ;* **

**Hope Mikaelson: I can’t wait to see you and kiss your perfect lips again, babe <3**

**Hope Mikaelson: I wish my brother hadn’t interrupted us. I wanted to do so many things to you. :3**

Josie felt her heart beat so fast in her chest as she read the messages that her girlfriend had sent her. She wanted Hope so much, she wanted her in every way possible – emotional, physical, spiritual, everything…

**Josie Saltzman: Babe, you’re making me blush so much…**

**Hope Mikaelson: That’s the point. ;) **

**Josie Saltzman: You’re horrible…**

**Hope Mikaelson: You know you adore me ;* **

**Josie Saltzman: You have no idea how much I adore you…**

**Hope Mikaelson: Then show me :3**

**Josie Saltzman: I’ll show you when I see you tomorrow ;) **

**Hope Mikaelson: Can’t wait <3**

**Josie Saltzman: I have to go to sleep now, babe… The witch is up my ass about staying up late on a school night.**

**Hope Mikaelson: Oh… Okay :( I’ll see you tomorrow then. Good night, babe! <3**

**Josie Saltzman: Good night, love! <3**

  
  


With that the girls finished their conversation online and both tried to get some sleep. Soon they both went off to dreamland, their last thoughts of each other. 

* * *

Josie was sitting inside the school library at her favorite spot near the Economics textbooks. She loved it there because there were barely any people around, it was more secluded and private. This allowed her to enjoy reading as much as possible without anyone bothering her.

She was going to see her best friend MG today but Mr. Han gave them an unexpected assignment, so she had to go and do it in the library instead. 

**MG: I’ll see you at lunch, right?**

Josie got a text from MG, so she immediately replied. 

**Josie: Yea, sure. I just need to finish up this assignment first.**

They barely had any time together recently. Ever since Josie got back, she was always working on something or spending her free time with Hope. She kinda missed her best friend, so whenever she wasn’t skipping lunch, she was spending it with MG. Occasionally  Kaleb joined them too and showed them a lot of h is cat pictures. That was fine with Josie, she didn’t mind. Though, she should definitely have a best friend  movie night with MG. Josie made  a mental note to ask h im later at lunch if  he wanted to hang out. Plus, it would get her mother off her back. You all know how Caroline is whenever MG is around. 

As Josie was reading something on supply and demand in international economics, she felt hands cover her eyes.

“Guess who!”

Josie heard the familiar voice of her girlfriend.

“Oh… uhm, Landon, is that you?” the girl teased Hope and chuckled.

“Unless I had a gender change, I think not,” Hope told her and removed her hands from Josie’s face. The girl turned around to face her and smiled widely.

“I missed you,” Josie told her girlfriend and looked around whether there was someone near them. When the coast was clear, she leaned in and kissed Hope softly.

“I missed you too, baby...”

Hope sat down next to Josie and raised an eyebrow at all the textbooks piled up on the small table.

“Don’t look at them like that, Hope. They have feelings!” Josie defended the poor books. “They wouldn’t like it if you judge them!”

“I’m just jealous of them because they spend more time with you than I do...” Hope told her and placed her hand over her girlfriend’s, caressing it lovingly.

“I feel like you’re jealous of everything,” Josie chuckled and stared at her girlfriend’s gorgeous eyes.

“I guess that might be the case...”

At that moment Josie thought about how adorable Hope is. She loved everything about her, even her jealousy. To her the girl was just absolutely perfect and she wouldn’t want to date anyone else. 

“Babe, I have to finish my assignment,” Josie said and looked at her girlfriend pleadingly to stop distracting her.

“I know. I’ll stop teasing you, even though I really really enjoy it...” Hope laughed a little. She knew that Josie had to do her assignments or else her grades would drop and she couldn’t afford that. “You work. I’ll just stare at you like a total creep.”

“You can never be a total creep. Even when you stare at me like one makes me adore you.”

Hope blushed and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend’s cheek. She loved that Josie found everything about her absolutely adorable. That really made her the best person in the world, a person who’s always on her side, who always supports her and who does everything to make her become better every single day.

“I’m glad you think so then.”

For the rest of the break, Josie finished up her assignment while Hope was carefully watching her in silence. It was such a beautiful sight to her. She loved looking at Josie and how every time she found something complicated, she would bite her lower lip. She also adored how the girl’s eyes lit up whenever she figured out a solution to a problem, and how she pouted when she didn’t like something that was written in the textbook. 

Hope loved observing her girlfriend and learning every single detail about her.

* * *

It was finally lunch time and Josie was sitting with MG at their usual table. The  boy was once again stuffing h is face with whatever he could get h is hands on. Oh how much she missed spending time with her best friend.

“MG, do you want to come to my house tonight and have a movie night? You know, like we used to...” Josie asked her best friend and MG’s face lit up immediately as soon as he heard that. It wasn’t at all weird for them to have movie nights like that. They had been doing it for years. They were just that close and Josie’s mother had no problem with it. She couldn’t afford to get on MG’s mother’s bad side.

“Obviously! Let’s to it, dude!” MG happily exclaimed. “I’ll bring the food!”

“Cool, we’re doing it then!” Josie confirmed once again and smiled widely.

“Doing what?” 

Kaleb suddenly showed up out of nowhere at their table and put h is tray down.

“A movie night at Jo’ place. You should join us,” MG explained and invited Kaleb with them, making Josie a bit annoyed because she wanted to spend time with just her best friend.

“Oh, when is it?” he asked and MG told him that it’s tonight.

“Oh… I can’t. I have a party to go to. There’s gonna be lots of weed, so… Can’t pass up on that opportunity!”

Josie mentally sighed as soon as she heard those words.  _ Thank god…  _ She thought as she really didn’t want  Kaleb to join them. It’s not that she didn’t like the  guy but  s he just wanted some alone time with her best friend. She kinda was maybe hoping to tell h im about Hope. She had been keeping her a secret for a while and she needed to tell someone or else she was going to explode. Who better to tell than her best friend, right?

“Well, okay then. Next time you’re definitely joining us!” MG told him and continued eating his third piece of chocolate cake.

“Yeah! Oh by the way, look at this new cutie pie that I brought home yesterday!” Kaleb said excitedly and showed the two of them some picture of a stray cat he had picked up off the street near his house.

“It’s super cute!” MG yelled out like a fanboy, making everyone else in the cafeteria turn to look at them. Josie facepalmed and felt super embarrassed. Her best friend fanboyed way too much about everything. Still, Josie loved him and wouldn’t want to be best friends with anyone else.

They heard the bell ring soon after and the three  of them parted ways. Josie went off to class to give out a presentation, MG wanted to to buy more food before h is  history lesson, of course, and  Kaleb decided to go and smoke some weed at h is usual secret spot behind the school building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, Hope and her brother patched things up :D That's a relief... :D Next chapter will be the movie night with MG. Stay tuned to see how he'll react to the news of his best friend dating a girl!
> 
> I appreciate all the kudos, comments, etc. <3 Love you guys!


	16. Best friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! <3

It was 6 PM and Josie was waiting for her best friend to come over for dinner, then afterwards the two could have their movie night like the good old days. Josie really missed that, spending time with her best friend, laughing about dumb shit together. But this time she was really nervous because she was going to tell the boy about her and Hope’s relationship. She thought that probably MG would be cool with it, because he’s the type of guy to read a lot of fanfiction and it was mostly F/F, so Josie thought that he’d be cool with her dating a girl. You never know, though. Josie just hoped that the boy wouldn’t start hating her or think that she’s disgusting or something like Hope’s brother had at first.

When Josie heard the doorbell ring, she immediately jumped off the couch and went to greet her best friend. As soon as she opened the door, she flung herself at MG and gave him the tightest hug.

“Dudeeeee...” both of them yelled out as they tightened their hold on each other and swung left and right.

“Come on, let’s go chill in my room until my mom makes dinner,” Josie then said and then her and MG went to lie down on her bed.

“Man, I feel like we haven’t hung out like this in ages,” MG said and felt a bit sad.

“Dude, yeah… I know. I’ve just been super busy with the projects at school,” Josie explained herself, making MG smile.

“Chill man, it’s fine. We’re best friends. Even if we don’t hang out for ages, nothing’s gonna change, you know that,” MG was getting Josie all emotional and she felt like she was going to cry. “No, don’t cry on me, Saltzman. Be a strong bitch!”

Josie then laughed and playfully hit her best friend’s shoulder before saying, “I’m really happy that you’re here.”

MG smiled at those words. He was also really happy to be spending time with Josie. Suddenly the boy’s stomach growled, making Josie laugh.

“No surprise here.”

Josie started laughing again and MG pouted before asking, “Ugh, when’s the food going to be ready?”

But before Josie could reply with anything, MG hopped off the bed and decided to ask Caroline himself. Josie followed her best friend in the kitchen soon after.

“Hey, Mrs. S, when’s the food gonna be done?” MG asked Josie’s mother, making the older woman a bit annoyed with his attitude.

“It’ll be done in 15 minutes,” Caroline replied through gritted teeth. MG was a guest in her house. In her opinion, the boy has to patiently wait for the dinner to be ready without asking any questions. But Caroline couldn’t say anything because of MG’s mother. She couldn’t risk looking bad because she had said something mean to her stupid son. She had to keep up her image at all cost.

“Cool, well hurry it up, because I’m super hungry,” MG said without giving a shit, then stormed out of the kitchen. Josie followed behind him and felt so good at that moment because her mother couldn’t say anything back to her best friend. Oh how she loved when MG was around. It felt like torture to her mother and Josie enjoyed every second of it.

  
  


* * *

When dinnertime came, Josie, MG, Lizzie and Caroline sat at the table. Josie’s father wouldn’t be joining them because he was working late yet again. He usually works late almost every night. Josie thought that it was a bit suspicious but she never really said anything about it and she didn’t ask him. It wasn’t like he was going to confess to cheating anyway.

“MG, how’s your mother doing?” Caroline asked her daughter’s best friend curiously. She needed to find out any additional information she could on Mrs. Greasley. What better way to get it than from her own son.

“Well, she’s currently working on some new project. There are so many people coming over to our house to speak to her,” MG explained as he stuffed his face with the delicious chicken stew that Caroline had prepared.

“Oh, and what kind of project is it?” Caroline asked and Josie rolled her eyes at her mother. _Of course she’s going to try and find out. Such a horrible woman. She’s probably trying to steal some ideas from Mrs. __Greasley__… _Josie thought as she took a sip of her orange juice.

“Well, she thinking of designing some new clothing line. I don’t really know the details. I think it was about children’s clothes or something,” MG told the older woman while chewing with his mouth open. Food fell from it from time to time, but he didn’t care. He was having the time of his life while eating. It was his favourite thing in the world and he didn’t care how disgusting he looked.

Caroline looked at the  boy in disgust but didn’t say anything. She just hummed and didn’t ask any other questions. She didn’t question her daughters about school either. That’s at least one good thing that came with MG coming over for dinner. Caroline wouldn’t ask them anything at all, which Josie and Lizzie were super happy about. 

The rest of the dinner went in silence and then Josie and MG were back in  the girl ’s room, on the bed. They put some movie on, but they weren’t really watching it. They were mostly gossiping about stuff, discussing their classmates and who’s dating who. 

“Kaleb hooked up with some chick the other day,” MG told her best friend, making Josie gasp in shock.

“Really? Oh my god, who?” the girl asked and MG laughed at her response.

“Well, some senior that usually hangs out with him and his gang. She’s a stoner like him and she plays guitar.”

Josie wouldn’t say that she was surprised. She had always expected Kaleb to hook up with some badass person like that.  H e was into bad  girls , so… 

“Dude, we need to make you a Tinder account. It’s high time for us to find you a man!” MG then told his best friend with excitement. “Gimme your phone. Let’s do it now!”

“Uhhh, MG...” Josie groaned because it was the last thing in the world that she wanted to do.

“Come on, man...” MG was persistent and Josie continued groaning. “What? Unless you’re dating someone, I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to make an account.”

Josie then looked away shyly as she thought of Hope. MG immediately picked up on this reaction and h is eyes wend wide with shock. 

“Oh my god!” MG yelled out. “Oh my fucking god… Josie Saltzman, who are you dating?!” MG asked as he put his hands on the girl’s shoulders and started shaking her back and forth.

“Fine, I’ll tell you,” Josie then said as she grabbed her best friend’s wrists and pulled them away from her shoulders.

“Is he cute? Is he tall? Do I know him?” MG impatiently asked, making Josie sigh.

“Uhmm, MG. I’m uhh...” Josie tried to say but MG interrupted her by saying, “Oh don’t tell me it’s some old guy. I can’t really picture you with an older man. Well, unless it’s a DILF.”

MG wiggled h is eyebrows when he said that last part and smirked at h is best friend. 

“Uhh… I’m actually not dating a boy,” Josie confessed, making MG’s smile become wider.

“So, I was right. You’re dating a man, a DILF!” 

MG smirked in satisfaction because he actually believed that he was right about Josie dating an older man.

“No, no… I’m not,” Josie quickly dismissed what her best friend had said. 

“Then what?” MG continued asking impatiently. He really wanted to find out now. 

“I’m dating a girl...”

MG wasn’t expecting that answer at all quite honestly. The thought of h is best friend being gay had never really crossed h is mind because  Jessica  had  fangirled over hot guys for years  in front of him . This came as a total shock and MG was definitely at a loss for words.

Josie saw that her best friend wasn’t saying anything and she sort of panicked that maybe this was th e end of their friendship, that MG was going to hate her forever and think that she was disgusting, like Hope’s brother had thought.

“Say something, please,” Josie pleaded and MG finally snapped out of his trans.

“Sorry, I thought about the burger I’m going to buy for breakfast tomorrow morning,” MG explained and laughed, making Josie hit his shoulder again. “Oww, are you like trying to kill me tonight or something?”

“No, you’re just being an idiot. I told you something serious and you were thinking about burgers?!” 

“Food is life, what can I say?!” MG replied and then both of them began laughing again. When the laughter died down, he continued speaking,”All jokes aside, though. I totally ship you and this girl that you’re dating, even if you still haven’t told me who she is and I don’t know how she looks like.”

Josie smiled at that and leaned in to give her best friend a hug. She was so happy that she had h im on her side. Plus, now she had someone to give her relationship advice and she had someone to talk to about how beautiful and wonderful Hope is. She was dying to tell someone and she’s glad that that someone was MG.

Suddenly, Josie’s phone started vibrating, indicating that she had received some text messages. They were from Hope, obviously. Who else?

“Ohh, is that the girlfriend texting you?” MG asked, making Josie blush as she unlocked her phone to check her messages.

“Yeah,” Josie just replied and MG leaned in to look at the screen. 

“Oh my god, that’s Hope Mikaelson!” he then yelled out, startling Josie a little. He then let out his usual fanboy scream.

“Ugh, you’re so loud, MG...” Josie felt like her eardrums were going to burst because of the boy.

“I can’t believe that you’re actually dating the star of the basketball team. Oh god, this is like the perfect romcom teen movie. The nerd and the star of the basketball team. Oh god, this is like high school musical. You’re Gabriella and she’s Troy!” 

MG was just talking and talking.  H e wouldn’t shut up. Josie was totally not listening to h im . She was looking at her messages from her girlfriend and smiling like a total idiot. Hope had texted her to tell her how much she misses her and how she can’t wait to kiss her soon. 

“Earth to Josie!” MG then said and waved his hand in front of her best friend’s face. “Did you not hear what I just said about being your wedding planner and your best man and everything?!” 

“MG, what are you even talking about?” Josie asked in confusion when she heard the words “wedding” and “best man”.

“Well, when you two get married I want to plan it and be your best man,” MG stated, making Josie chuckle. 

“Stop being a dork. It’s too soon to talk about that stuff. Plus, we’re keeping our relationship a secret. Our parents would freak out if they find out,” Josie told her best friend and felt a bit sad. She really hated keeping her relationship with Hope a secret.

“Damn, that sucks man...” MG really pitied his best friend at that moment. He felt so bad for her and just wished he could do something to make her feel better. “Hopefully, we can think of something in the future. We live in the 21st century. There’s gotta be some way to convince your parents that this is normal.”

“I really hope that you’re right, MG. I want nothing more than to shout to the world that I’m so madly in love with Hope Mikaelson,” Josie admitted in front of her best friend how she feels about Hope. Honestly, it was the first time that she had said it out loud that she was in love with the girl. 

Josie Saltzman was in love with Hope Mikaelson and nothing in this world could change the way she felt about the girl at that moment.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We all need a friend like MG in our lives. <3 He took the news so well, but I guess that doesn't really surprise anyone. :D I love that dude so much. Thank you all for commenting, giving kudos and everything guys. You're the best readers! <3


	17. Oops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy, people! <3

A few weeks pass and Josie and Hope have successfully managed to keep their relationship a secret. There was just a small problem and that was Penelope Park. She kept bullying Josie and her friends from the Economics club online. She kept making polls, creating memes and so on. Hope tried to stop her, but Penelope wouldn’t listen. She asked her once why she does that and Penelope’s reply was something along the lines of “Because I don’t like them. Why? Are you suddenly the defender of nerds now? Don’t tell me you actually became a loser too!”

After that Hope kept her mouth shut and let it be. She and Penelope were teammates and best friends. She couldn’t let this thing ruin their relationship. It would jeopardize everything she’s worked so hard for, her performance on the tournament especially. She needed Penelope as much as she didn’t want to admit it, even if she wasn’t that fond of her at the moment.

It was 3 PM and Hope and Penelope were training for the tournament. They were in front of Hope’s house playing on her personal court. They were 1 vs 1 and Penelope went in for an alley oop, but Hope managed to block it.

“Damn it...” her best friend cursed and went to get the ball. Both girls suddenly heard clapping from someone. It was Klaus who had witnessed the whole thing.

“Nice job, Hope. I see that you’re improving,” the man praised his daughter on her great performance.

“Thanks, dad.”

“I do think that you should find a better sparring partner, though. The players at the tournament would be way tougher than your friend here,” Klaus made a suggestion, which made both girls angry. Then he just started walking away before they could say anything back.

“Your dad is such a dick, man...” Penelope told her best friend, super frustrated because of the comment that she heard about herself.

“Tell me about it. I have to deal with that crap every single day.”

After that the girls continued playing a bit more before Penelope had to leave and meet some other friends of hers. She had invited Hope to join, but the girl refused. She didn’t really like most of the people Penelope hung out with because they were into drinking and partying way too much. They just weren’t Hope’s type of people really.

As soon as Penelope left, Hope took out her phone and texted her girlfriend.

**Hope Mikaelson: Hey <3 What are you doing right now, babe?**

It took less than 5 seconds before the girl got back a reply from Josie.

**Josie Saltzman: I’m working on a science project at school. I needed to use the lab. Plus, I didn’t want to go home. Can’t deal with my mom at all these days…**

Hope felt really bad for her girlfriend but she related. She felt the same way with her father. It was so hard being around him that Hope just wanted to skip town and never return. She wanted her and Josie to just take off and don’t look back, but the chances of that scenario happening were practically 0%.

**Hope Mikaelson: I see. I’m sorry that things with your mom are so horrible. I wish I could do something about it…  
  
Josie Saltzman: Yeah, well… Sadly, you can’t make her into a better person. There is one thing you could do tho. Do you maybe want to come over to school and be my lab assistant?**

Hope’s heart immediately sped up at the thought of seeing Josie soon. She quickly texted her that she’d love to come.

**Hope Mikaelson: Hell yeah! I’d love to. I really really want to experiment with you, baby. I just need to take a shower first, change and then I’ll be right there.**

**Josie Saltzman: Perfect. I can’t wait to see you. And btw, if you want, you can totally send me a hot pic from the shower ;) **

**Hope Mikaelson: ahhahaha, you’d love that, wouldn’t you, baby ;) I’d rather show you in person tho :3**

**Josie Saltzman: Ugh, fine. I tried :D Text me when you leave your house. I’m at room 556 btw ;* **

  
  


* * *

  
  


After Hope showered and changed her clothes, she was ready to head on out. Well, that is until she heard a loud scream coming from the living room. Hope quickly ran out of her room to check what’s going on and she found her mother in the middle of the room, holding a pair of handcuffs. But not just some random handcuffs. They were her and Josie’s. _Damn it… I guess they must’ve fallen behind the couch. I was wondering where they were._

“Hope, what the hell are these?!” Hayley yelled out and looked at her daughter, appalled by what she had found.

The girl stared at her mother, her mouth open in shock and could barely mutter any kind of words.

“I uh.. uhm...” was all she could say and Hayley became even angrier.

“These are yours, aren’t they? How could you do such filthy things with boys here at our house… Do you know how bad it would be for our reputation if some reporters catch you in a sex scandal or if the boy you’re with goes to the media and tells them all about your perverted sexual fantasies?!” Hayley totally lost it and was just yelling and yelling.

“They’re not Hope’s. They’re mine, mother,” Marcel’s voice was heard as he entered the living room.

“Marcel? They’re yours… How could you do this?” Hayley was surprised that her perfect son was using such things.

“I’m sorry, mother. Me and my new girlfriend really needed to do something different. That’s why I was using them,” Marcel lied and totally covered for his sister’s ass. He knew that his punishment would be way less severe than hers. He really wanted to be a good brother to her because he still felt guilty about how he reacted when he caught her with her girlfriend on the couch.

“First of all, you’re grounded for a month. No TV, no computer and phone, no going out unless it’s for school. Do you understand me?!” Hayley said sternly and pointed her index finger towards her son. Marcel just nodded. He didn’t want to argue and make his mother even angrier. “Also, I want to meet this new girlfriend of yours. Invite her for dinner tomorrow. I want to see the wench who’s trying to steal our family’s money.”

Of course she’d care about the money. Marcel was supposed to inherit the company and surely the girl he’s with would eventually be a part of that too. The Kim parents wouldn’t want some gold digger swindling them out of their money and ruining their reputation.

“Uhh, yeah. I’ll tell her. Okay!” Marcel told his mother and kept thinking about how screwed he is. He didn’t have a girlfriend. Where was he going to find someone who’d agree to date him or at least pretend on such short notice. He looked at Hope who was just as panicked as he was.

Hayley confiscated the handcuffs in order to dispose of them and left the Kim siblings in the living room alone. Hope immediately walked up to her brother, took his hand and quickly led him inside her room.

“What are we going to do? You don’t have a girl to bring tomorrow for dinner!” Hope said with a panicked voice and was pacing around the room.

“No shit Sherlock… Ugh, I don’t know, maybe I can tell them that me and my imaginary girlfriend broke up or something,” Marcel pitched to Hope as an option, but the girl dismissed it. It was too obvious and they would find out that he was lying.

Suddenly, Hope had an idea. As much as she didn’t like it, there was no other option at the moment. Nobody else would agree on such short notice.

“What if… Josie pretends to be your girlfriend?” Hope offered and Marcel’s eyes went wide. Then he smiled at his sister. Relief was written all over his face because of her idea.

“That actually might work. Oh my god, Hope… You’re a genius! That would be super believable,” Marcel said to his sister and started jumping up and down in happiness inside her room.

“Okay, but don’t you dare end up kissing her or something in front of our parents...” 

“Don’t be so jealous, Hope. It’s just pretend. Plus, we gotta make it believable for mom and dad,” Marcel made a good argument so Hope agreed, but she did still have to talk to Josie about it. Hopefully the girl would be okay with it or else they would be so damn screwed.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hope managed to make it into the school about 15 minutes after the whole scandal at home and quickly made her way to the room Josie told her she was in. When she reached it, she noticed that her girlfriend was reading something out of some textbook and she chuckled.

“Cheating on me with textbooks again, huh?” Hope said as she walked inside the room, closing the door behind her. She then went up to her girlfriend, grabbed the book from her hand, closed it and placed in on the desk. Hope wrapped her arms around her girlfriend’s waist from behind and began kissing her neck.

“Jealousy looks really hot on you right now,” Josie smirked as she said that but she pulled away from her girlfriend’s grasp. “Unfortunately, we need to be careful here, Hope. Someone might walk in and see us. Plus, there are cameras in the room. What if someone decides to check the security footage or something?!”

Hope felt her girlfriend panic and immediately tried to reassure her. “Okay… I understand. I’ll be more careful next time. It’s just so hard for me to keep my hands to myself when I’m around you.” 

“I totally understand that. I’m the same way, but we need to control ourselves.”

“So, what are you working on exactly?” Hope changed the subject quickly.

“I’m trying to discover chlorophyll variety in different plants using paper chromatography,” Josie explained to her girlfriend and Hope just looked at her with a stupid expression because she didn’t understand a word of that.

“I have no idea what that means,” Hope replied, making Josie laugh.

“Basically, I use these little strips of paper to get information about how much chlorophyll there is in the different plants,” Josie explained again and Hope seemed to understand this time, or she pretended to. “Anyway, uh… I have a confession to make.”

“Do tell, darling,” Hope said, looking intrigued now.

“I don’t really need a lab assistant. I just kinda wanted to see you. I’m actually done with the project,” Josie confessed to her girlfriend, making Hope smirk.

“Oh, is that how it is. I didn’t know you were such a vixen. Luring me here thinking that you needed a lab assistant, but your plan all along was to just seduce me the moment I show up.”

Hope’s words made Josie’s cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She wasn’t really planning on seducing her girlfriend, even though she wanted to. Just the mere thought of it made her whole body hot. If she had her way, she’d end up having sex with Hope on top of this desk right then and there.

“Don’t be so full of yourself. If I wanted to seduce you, I wouldn’t need to put so much effort,” Josie winked at her girlfriend, telling her how easy it would be to seduce her if she wanted to. “Jokes aside, I really did miss you a lot. Want to for a walk in the park near the school?”

“You’re so cute. Of course...” Hope immediately agreed and grabbed her girlfriend’s hand. “But before we go, I kinda need to talk to you about something.”

“What is it?” Josie asked, her voice cracking a little as she felt worried that it might be something bad.

Hope explained everything that happened with her mom and the handcuffs. She told Josie all about her plan to have her pretend to be her brother’s girlfriend.

“Well, if there really is no other option. I’m willing to do it,” Josie said and gently squeezed her girlfriend’s hand. She had to admit, it was a bit of a crazy idea, but if it would help them keep their relationship a secret and have them stay out of trouble, then she was on board.

“Great. Now let’s go for a walk!”

Both girls then put away all the chemistry project materials, took their stuff and headed out.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oohhh... well that was a stupid idea, Josie pretending to be Marcel's girlfriend :D Hopefully it doesn't backfire on them or something. Stay tuned to find out. Next chapter will be the dinner ;) 
> 
> Love you guys <3


	18. Weird Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's dinner time, people :D Enjoy!

It was time for Josie to have dinner with her girlfriend’s parents. She felt extremely nervous as she stood in front of the door, contemplating whether she should ring the doorbell. She hated the fact that she had to pretend to be her Hope’s brother’s girlfriend. She wished she didn’t have to but there was no other option. They couldn’t risk Hope’s parents finding out about them.

When she finally had the courage to ring the doorbell, the door was quickly opened and there in front of her stood Marcel and his mother.

“Hey, beautiful!” the boy said and leaned in to give Josie a hug and kiss on the cheek.

Hayley just stood there silently with a stone-cold expression on her face. Josie felt like the woman was going to murder her any second.

“Hello,” Josie greeted both of them and then turned to his mother before saying, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Josie!”

She then put her hand out so Hayley could shake it, but the woman didn’t move. She just muttered a “Hello” under her breath. The older woman then turned to her son and said, “I’m going to take the steaks out. Go sit at the table.”

With that Hayley disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Josie and Marcel standing there dumbfounded.

“Man, she’s so weird. I’m sorry that she was so rude to you,” Marcel apologized to Josie.

The girl didn’t feel better, though. She felt like crap because of the way Hayley acted and she also remembered how Marcel had acted when he saw her making out with his sister on the couch.

“Let’s go to the dining room. Hope and my father are waiting for us there,” Marcel continued and Josie’s eyes lit up the moment she heard her girlfriend’s name.

“Okay...”

Josie followed the boy to the dining room and was immediately greeted by a smiling Klaus and her beautiful girlfriend Hope. Josie’s heart skipped a beat the moment she laid eyes on her.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Klaus cheerfully said and Hope could swear that she had never seen her father so happy. It was obvious though that this would make inheriting the company so much easier for Marcel. Of course her father would be pleased. Marcel having a girlfriend was a good thing for the family’s reputation.

“It’s nice to meet you too. I’m Josie,” the girl said equally as cheerful and shook the man’s hand.

“That’s a beautiful name,” he told her and then turned to his son. “You’ve got a keeper here, Marcel!”

After he let go of Josie’s hand, Hope stood up and went to give her girlfriend a hug. She had been dying do to that all day. The moment she wrapped her arms around Josie, it felt like time had stopped and it was just the two of them, no family issues, no problems, no nothing. Just them being together.

Marcel cleared his throat because the hug went on for a bit longer than expected and both girls immediately pulled away. Josie then sat down next to Hope. Hayley came in soon after and brought the food. Josie mouthed a “Thank you” when the older woman gave her her plate, but Hayley once again didn’t say anything. She didn’t spare a glance the girl’s way. Once everyone had a plate in front of them, they all began eating. Josie was sitting next to Hope. Marcel and his mother were in front of them and Klaus was at the head of the table. He was the master of the household after all.

“So, Josie, what do your parents do for a living?” Klaus asked the girl as he was cutting his steak.

“Oh uhm… My parents own the fashion brand C&A. Well, my father is the legal owner. My mom is the head designer there,” Josie answered the man’s question immediately.

“C&A? That’s one of the most successful companies in the USA!” Hayley suddenly said with a shocked expression. She had no idea that this girl’s family was rich. Here she thought that her son had brought home some gold digger that could take their money, but never in her wildest dreams did she expect him to bring someone whose family is just as wealthy as theirs.

“Indeed. I check statistics about companies in the USA every day. Yours is at the top of the polls,” Klaus said, making Josie a little bit embarrassed. She didn’t really like it when people talked about her family and their wealth. She never liked being the center of attention.

Hope immediately felt her girlfriend tense up, so she took her hand under the table in order to give her some reassurance that everything will be okay and that she’s doing great so far.

From that moment on Hayley’s attitude towards the girl drastically changed. Once she knew that she wasn’t a gold digger, she kept giving the girl compliments and telling her how wonderful it is that she’s dating her son. She even kept making hints about their long and bright future together.

“Once you and Josie get married...” Hayley suddenly blurted out, making Hope choke on her food.

“Woah, woah, mom… It’s way too soon to talk about stuff like that,” Marcel interrupted his mother immediately.

“Well of course not now, but someday. You’d want to have a family, woudn’t you?”

Josie squeezed her girlfriend’s hand the moment she heard the words that came out of Hayley’s mouth. This was so embarrassing for her and she felt like she would die on the spot. She wanted to say something, she wanted to scream that she’s actually dating their daughter, not their son. Words just couldn’t come out of her mouth. She tried to keep it together as much as she could.

Hope was expecting all of this to happen. Of course her mother would jump at the opportunity to talk about Marcel getting married and inheriting the company with a beautiful wife by his side. It was her lifelong dream to see her son like that. So Hope wasn’t surprised. She just felt jealous and sad because she wished her mother would feel that way about her and she hated the fact that Josie had to pretend to be dating her brother, even though it was her own idea. _Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all…_

“I mean sure I’d want a family, but it’s too soon, mom,” Marcel tried to argue with his mother. He wanted her to finally let it go and leave this topic. Thankfully his dad stepped in and made Hayley finally shut up.

“That’s enough, honey. Let’s not talk about this anymore,” Klaus told his wife and then afterwards changed the topic. “Josie, I heard from my son here that you recently went to LA with Hope on a competition.”

“Yes, we uhh...” Josie tried to reply but she stopped talking for a moment because Hope had released her hand and was now touching her thigh. “We uhh… we did a great job. Got to 3rd place!”

Josie couldn’t believe that her girlfriend would do something like that, especially during dinner with her parents. It was so risky but It felt incredibly good. 

“Wonderful, wonderful!” Klaus exclaimed and smiled at the girl. Then he turned to his daughter and asked, “Hope, how’s basketball practice going?”

“Oh it’s going perfectly, dad. I’m really tearing up the court!” Hope answered her father’s question and moved her hand up Josie’s thigh. It was dangerously close to one specific area, making Josie even more hot and bothered than she already was. Hope wished that she could be tearing up Josie’s clothes instead of the court.

“I… I really need to use the restroom!” Josie suddenly blurted out and stood up. She just couldn’t take all the teasing that her girlfriend was doing.

Hope watched as the girl went to the restroom that was in the corridor and wished that she could join her. She knew that Josie was probably as turned on as she was at that moment and Hope wanted to see just how much.

She needed to find an excuse to get up from the table as well. It would be suspicious if she were to say that she needed to use the bathroom too. She had to think of something else. Then an idea suddenly popped into the girl’s head. 

“My dinner is cold. I’m going to heat it up, be right back...” 

Hope stated and immediately took her plate and got out of the dining room. She went to the kitchen and placed the plate with the food inside  the microwave , then closed  its door and set the timer to 3 minutes. The kitchen was right near the restroom that Josie was in, so Hope waited, hoping that the girl would come out of there soon.

As if on cue, Josie then did indeed come out of the restroom. Hope immediately pushed her against the wall and crashed her lips against her girlfriend’s.

“You have no idea how much I want you right now,” Hope stated, making Josie’s whole body heat up. She let out a soft moan as Hope suddenly started tracing kisses over her jawline and down to her neck. 

“God, that feels so good,” Josie whispered and closed her eyes in pleasure. She really didn’t want Hope to stop doing that, but she knew that she had to. 

“Mhmm...” Hope hummed as she began sucking on her girlfriend’s pulse point, making Josie go absolutely crazy.

“Tae, stop! What if someone walks in on us?” Josie said and gently pushed her girlfriend away, resulting in Hope adorably pouting. 

“You’re right. I just can’t really help myself when I’m around you. You’re so beautiful,” Hope told her and sighed. 

“We can catch up on all of these activities another time, baby…” Josie was smirking. Oh how Hope loved that smirk. 

“Okay...”

After that the two girls went back to the dining room. The rest of the dinner went well. When it was time for Josie to go, both Marcel and Hope offered to give the girl a ride home. 

“Hope, you need to help me clean up here. Marcel should take Josie home. He’s her boyfriend after all,” Hayley said while everyone was inside the corridor and gave her son his jacket. 

Hope felt her heart break at her mother’s words. She really wanted to be the one to take Josie home so she could at least spend some time alone with her girlfriend that night.  _Ugh, my mother ruins everything…_

After everyone said goodbye to Josie, Marcel led the girl to his car. The ride was a little awkward because they’ve never really spent time alone together like this before.

“Do you live far away?” the boy asked his sister’s girlfriend.

“No, it’s like a 15 minute drive,” Josie quickly answered and then both of them stopped talking. 

The only time they would speak was when Marcel would ask for directions.

Once they reached Josie’s house, Marcel stopped the car and Josie unbuckled her seatbelt. Before she got out of the car, though, she heard Marcel speak.

“Thank you for making my sister happy...”

Josie smiled as soon as she heard his words and then said, “Believe me, she makes me just as happy.”

“I can tell. You both glow when you’re around each other,” the boy stated and Josie felt that her smile couldn’t become any wider. “I’m sorry about the way I reacted when I saw you two together on the couch. I was really out of line.”

“It’s alright. You were surprised. I get it.” 

Josie didn’t expect him to apologize, but she was happy that he did. It felt good to have another person on their side. 

“Thanks for driving me home. Good night!” Josie then said and got out of the car. She heard Marcel wish her a good night as well. Then the girl made her way towards her house, thinking about how she would text Hope as soon as she got to her room. It was late, around 9 PM, but Josie knew that she didn’t have to worry about her mother. She had told her that she was at MG’s place so her mother wouldn’t ask her many questions and that’s indeed what happened. When Josie walked inside her house, the only things her mother asked her were whether she had a good time and if Mrs. Greasley was there as well. Of course she only cared about learning new information about MG’s mother. 

When Josie finally managed to get to her room, she changed her clothes, went to the bathroom, and then got herself comfortable on the bed, ready for a full on text session with the love of her life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope is such a perv tho <3 I love her :D That dinner went well, I think :D Next chapter is the basketball tournament. Stay tuned to find out whether Hope's team is gonna take home the win ;) 
> 
> Thank you all for your wonderful comments. I adore you guys <3


	19. The Big Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's game time, Timberwolves!!! <3 Woo! :D Enjoy!

It was the day of the basketball tournament and Hope was freaking out. She felt like even though she trained like hell, she still wasn’t prepared for the big game. It also didn’t help that her father was being an annoying asshole who kept telling her how disappointing it would be if they lose and how she would kiss her whole future goodbye. 

“This family’s reputation comes first, so you need to do everything you can to win this game, at all cost. Don’t bother coming home tonight if you lose, do you hear me?” Klaus Mikaelson made the consequences clear to his daughter and Hope just nodded her head without saying anything back to her father. She knew better than to get into a fight with him right before the big game.

The game was supposed to start at 8 PM sharp, so Hope had to be at the gym earlier, because the team had to prepare. The coach had them do a dynamic warm up before the game, so that they could be at their best performance for the tournament. They were doing high kicks, high knees and all sorts of other exercises. Hope was pretty used to them since she had been training all her life like this. 

“Hope, we need to kill it out there tonight,” Penelope said to her best friend as she placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You and me!” 

“Totally, man!” Hope replied and smirked at her. “My dad said that some hotshot scout is going to be at the game. If we’re lucky, we can both get scouted.”

“Yeah! I really want to play college ball with you, dude!”

Both girls had this dream ever since they were little that they’d go to the same university and play college basketball on the same team, like people did in those famous teen shows. They always tried their best in order to make that dream a reality. 

When the game started and all players were on the court, Hope tried to keep herself focused. She couldn’t allow herself to be distracted at that moment, but she couldn’t help but look around the gym where all the guests were seated, looking for Josie. 

“This is one of the most important game for the Mystic Falls High Timberwolves. They're definitely looking to come out strong tonight and prove to be the better team,” the commentator said as everyone was cheering loudly. 

Hope continued looking around the room and managed to finally pinpoint her girlfriend’s location. She was smiling at her and Hope couldn’t help but smile back. Before she knew it, the referee blew his whistle and the center jumped up to tip the ball into the Timberwolves’ possession. 

“Hope, focus!” Penelope yelled at her best friend, making the girl snap out of her trance and get her head in the game. Hope was the point guard so it was her responsibility to direct the offense. She needed to get the ball to the right person at the right time. 

“Point Guard Hope Mikaelson is looking really good tonight. She seems like she's going to break this court in half,” the commentator said on the mic, making the whole crowd go wild. 

The ball was currently in Hope’s possession and she managed to avoid the other team’s defense and get the ball to Penelope who scored an incredible 3-point shot.

“Wooo!” Penelope yelled out as the ball went inside the hoop. 

“Nice one, man!” Hope told her best friend as all the players got into their positions. 

“You keep playing like that and there’s no way we’re losing tonight!” 

"Alright here we go. After that incredible 3-point shot, the ball is now in the possession of the  Salvatore Stallions," the commentator stated as a player from the opposing team tried to get to the other side of the court. 

Josie was at the game because she really wanted to cheer her girlfriend on, so every time Hope scored, she'd yell as loud as she could. Josie was watching with interest as her girlfriend was playing. She couldn’t help but think how incredibly hot she looked while wearing that basketball jersey. She might not understand anything about sports, but she sure loved to stare at Hope as she played. 

Basketball is a team sport, so just putting scores on the board is not enough. The scout that was there that night was looking for something more than just that, so Hope's main priority wasn't to score as much as possible. She did add points, but she also helped her teammates score as well. They had specific plays they needed to do and they followed them without question. Hope was a team player and she did her best out there. Hopefully, the scout would recognize that. She really wanted that.

As the game went on, the two teams were always neck to neck. The score was almost even until the Stallions scored and were then in the lead.

"Timberwolves are down in the fourth quarter. Time is ticking and they need a basket to win this," the commentator said as the game was approaching its end.

The ball was in Hope’s hands, she was trying so hard to get it to Penelope so the girl can score, but just as she was about to pass it, someone from the opposite team fouled her,  hitting her with an elbow in the face and making her fall to the floor . Hope felt her nose bleeding as she attempted to get up.

Josie immediately gasped in shock when she saw the whole thing. She wanted to just go out there on the court and help, but she couldn’t. She felt so powerless at that moment and hoped that Hope would be okay. 

“Damn it...” Hope cursed under her breath the moment she stood up and wiped the blood. The referee asked if she was fine, to which Hope nodded. Now she had to do 2 freethrows successfully in order for her team to win the game.

The other team laughed as Hope stepped behind the 2 point line. The girl that fouled her tried to distract her with trash talking and Hope was trying so hard to ignore it. She kept thinking about how her father made her do all those freethrows and if she missed one, she’d have to start all over again from the beginning. She was ready for this. She could do this. So Hope threw the ball towards the hoop and managed to get it in. 

“Come on,” Hope said and prepared herself for the final shot. She had to do this for her future. Her father’s words rang in her mind. _Don’t bother coming home if you lose the game tonight…_ Hope closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I have to do this!” she told herself and then threw the ball.

Everyone was waiting in anticipation to find out whether the Timberwolves would take home the win. Hope and Penelope wanted this so badly. So when the ball hit the ring, they were so devastated. Hope missed. She had missed for the first time in years. They lost and it was all their fault. Now her father was going to be furious. Penelope was going to hate her. Josie was probably going to be super disappointed in her. She had let everybody down, but most importantly, she let herself down. In her opinion, there was no chance of getting scouted now.

Hope ran off the court that night without looking at anybody. She didn’t go home. She couldn’t. Her father had specifically told her to not come home if they lose, so she obeyed his orders. There was a party after the game at Penelope’s house, but Hope couldn’t show up. She couldn’t face her teammates after that loss. They were officially out of the whole tournament and it was all because of her.

Hope immediately received text messages from everyone after the game. They were wondering where she was, whether she was okay, but Hope didn’t open them. She thought that they would blame her for the loss, so she didn’t bother to look what the messages said. 

That night, the girl had found herself sitting alone in a playground on one of the slides. She didn’t know where else to go. She just sat there looking at the sky, thinking about how her future was over. 

Suddenly, the girl felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out to see who it was. 

“Josie...” Hope uttered and decided that maybe it would be best to actually pick up. So she did and she immediately heard the worried voice of her girlfriend.

“Hope, where are you?” Josie asked from the other end of the line, her voice shaking in fear that something had happened to her girlfriend.

“I don’t know. Somewhere...” Hope replied, her voice so weak, as if her whole life was sucked out of her.

“Please, talk to me. I know that you lost, but it’s not the end of the world,” Josie told her, making Hope a bit angry because to her it actually was the end of the world. Her life was over. Didn’t Josie understand that?

“It is. My life is over. My dad said that I shouldn’t come back home if I lose,” Hope explained with a slightly pissed off tone in her voice. “It’s over. I’m not going to get scouted. The team is out of the tournament. They probably hate me now since we lost because of me.”

“How do you know that you’re not going to get scouted? You played an amazing game out there. If that scout has a brain, they’ll surely want you to play for their university...” Josie tried to make her girlfriend feel better. “As for your father, I’m sure he didn’t mean it. He’ll come around. He won’t just leave you like that. But even if he does, you can come stay with me. My mom wouldn’t mind if we think up a good excuse.”

Hope listened to what her girlfriend had to say and continued to stay silent, making Josie even more worried. 

“Hope, please. Tell me where you are and I’ll come to you,” Josie pleaded and felt tears forming in her eyes. “Or if you want you can just come to my place now. Please, I don’t want you to be alone right now.”

Hope felt a bit bad that she was making her girlfriend worried like that. She then sighed and just said, “Fine, whatever. I’ll come to your place if that’s what you want.” 

Josie immediately felt relieved when she heard that Hope will come see her. She smiled and thought about how when her girlfriend shows up, she’ll give her the tightest hug she’s ever given anyone in her life.

“Alright, I’ll wait for you...”

That was all Josie said before Hope hung up the phone and headed to her girlfriend’s house.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Josie was standing in front of her house, waiting for Hope to show up. She had been waiting for what felt like forever. Every second of every minute felt like it lasted for such a long time that it literally made Josie go crazy. She tapped her foot against the cold hard cement as she impatiently waited. When she finally caught a glimpse of her girlfriend walking towards her, Josie immediately began running. She couldn’t wait anymore. She needed to hug her so badly. And when she did, she felt Hope bury her face in her neck and begin sobbing. Josie gently caressed her girlfriend’s back in an attempt to comfort her. Hope needed to know that Josie was there for her, that she had her no matter what and that she wasn’t leaving, no way in hell. 

“I’m sorry,” Hope uttered in between sobs. She felt completely destroyed and it made Josie’s heart break. 

“Shh, don’t apologize. You have nothing to apologize for. Everything will be okay,” the girl reassured Hope and tightened her hold around her body.

After staying like that for a few more minutes, the girls decided to go to Josie’s room. Before they went inside the house, Hope was worried about how Caroline would react, but Josie reassured her that she had already told her mother that they will be having a sleepover or something and there were no problems. That made Hope sigh in relief. 

“Let’s go have some fun in my room,” Josie winked at her girlfriend and grabbed her hand, ready to drag her inside the house for a night filled with very fun and stress relieving activities. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Hope :/ Her father is so hard on her... Thankfully Josie is there to take all the pain away <3


	20. Things get heated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's smut in this chapter guys, just a heads up :D I'll change the rating of the story to Mature?... I think Mature is the right one. I'm not sure how the rating system here works exactly and what's acceptable for Mature and what for Explicit, but I'll just leave it at Mature. :D
> 
> Enjoy! <3

Josie led Hope inside her bedroom and immediately closed the door behind her. She was really worried about her girlfriend and wanted to do everything she could to make her feel better. Josie directed Hope to her bed and the girl immediately sat down. 

“Come here,” Josie whispered as she situated herself next to Hope and then pulled her girlfriend in for a hug. 

Hope buried her face in her girlfriend’s neck and just let herself crumble in her arms. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying so much. She closed them and tried to relax, but she was still thinking about the fact that her future was over and how much everyone probably hated her at that moment. 

“I’m a failure,” Hope uttered and Josie barely understood what her girlfriend had said. 

“No, you’re not. One loss doesn’t mean that you’re a failure, even if that game was important,” Josie immediately replied after hearing how Hope was talking about herself. “You need to get past this, Hope. You need to be strong. There are more opportunities and I’m sure that another one will come at the right time.”

Josie tried reassuring her as much as she could, but it was like Hope wasn’t listening to her. She was so stubborn like that, just like her mother. Whenever she told herself something, that was it, there was no point in trying to convince her otherwise. 

“I’m weak, Jo. How could I miss that stupid freethrow?!” Hope was now pissed off at herself. She moved to the second stage – anger. “How could I be so weak and miss that damn thing…”

“Hope, stop it,” Josie suddenly yelled out and pushed her girlfriend away from her just enough so that she could look at her straight in the eyes. Hope was shocked at the sudden outburst and immediately looked away in embarrassment. 

“Jo, I’m-” Hope was going to apologize but Josie was having none of that crap anymore. She was pissed off now and wanted to convince her girlfriend to stop blaming herself.

“Look at me...” She lifted Hope’s head a little by placing her fingers under her chin, making the girl look at her. “You are the best and most amazing basketball player at our school. You played a wonderful game, even though I didn’t understand half of the things that you were doing on that stupid court.” Her words made Hope chuckle a little, but Josie didn’t stop talking. “One stupid mistake. You made one stupid mistake, Hope… We’re all people. We all make mistakes. Stop beating yourself up for it.”

“You’re right.” 

“Of course I’m right! When have I ever been wrong?” Josie tried to make things a bit playful now in hopes that it would maybe cheer Hope up a bit. It definitely worked. 

“You’re so full of yourself, Miss Know-It-All,” Hope huffed and turned her head away from her girlfriend. She was pouting which Josie found absolutely adorable.

“Come on, you know you love me.” 

Josie continued being playful, making Hope’s smile widen so much. It was what the girl was aiming for anyway and she had succeeded.

“I do. I do love you,” Hope said those words with the softest voice Josie had ever heard. It was actually the first time Hope had specifically told her that she loved her. Sure, they both knew that they loved each other. It was kind of obvious, but this was the first time Hope had looked at her straight in the eyes and told her that she loved her.

Josie stood silent for a second, trying to process what was happening, which kind of made her girlfriend a bit worried. 

“You don’t have to say it back,” Hope then said, her voice a little sad.”It’s not-” 

She was immediately cut off by a pair of lips against her own. The kiss was so gentle, so filled with emotion that both girls wished for it to never end.

“I love you too, dummy.”

The girls continued kissing and soon their make out session became so heated that it could practically start a fire. Josie gently placed her hand on her girlfriend's neck and afterwards pushed her to lie down on the bed without pulling her lips away from hers. With her free hand she then slowly lifted her shirt up, exposing her bare skin. 

Hope felt the amazing sensation of having Josie touch her. It drove her absolutely crazy. The girl then slowly pulled her lips away from Hope's, breaking their kiss and smirked at her before going down to her stomach to place soft kisses all over it. Hope let out a soft moan in sensation. Josie’s lips felt amazing against her bare skin. 

When her girlfriend pulled away, Hope immediately found herself missing the contact. Then Josie unbuttoned the shirt that was keeping Hope’s breasts at bay. She needed to see and feel them so badly at that moment. 

Once the shirt was unbuttoned, Josie also helped get Hope’s bra off. The girl’s breasts were then exposed and Josie immediately began placing soft kisses on the left one and occasionally letting her tongue explore it. Then she took the girl’s already hardened nipple in her mouth and gently began sucking on it. She let her tongue play around with it, driving Hope absolutely insane because of the sensation she was feeling at that moment. At the same time Josie's hand wondered down and made its way under her girlfriend's red silk panties, immediately feeling how wet she was. 

Hope loved feeling so close to the girl, but she couldn’t help but think about how they were doing these inappropriate things with Josie’s parents in the house.

“Jo, as much as I love what you’re doing, your parents are downstairs. What if your mom comes and checks on us?” Hope said breathlessly as Josie continued driving her crazy with her fingers.

“It’s late. They’re sleeping. Don’t worry,” Josie reassured her girlfriend and continued with her dirty actions. "You're so fucking wet, baby." 

Hope bit her lip in order to stop herself from moaning. Josie’s mouth then went to the girl’s second breast and began kissing it softly, just like she had done with the left one. She then began leaving a trail of kisses up to Hope’s neck and started gently sucking and sometimes biting on it, but she was being careful not to go overboard and leave a mark there. It would be too risky if she did, even if she badly wanted to show everyone that Hope was hers.

Josie spread her girlfriend’s lower lips with her fingers and began playing with her clit. She knew that Hope would moan loudly, so she tried to muffle those noises by kissing her. Even though her parents were downstairs and were sleeping, he sister Lizzie was in the next room and she couldn’t risk her hearing them if Hope was too loud.

Hope’s hands gripped Josie’s shoulders tightly when she then felt the girl slide a finger inside her. 

“Oh god, Jo...” 

Josie smirked at her girlfriend’s words and felt amazing because she was able to give her the pleasure that she deserves. She was moving her finger in and out of her girlfriend. The rhythm was slow and steady at first, but then Hope told her to go faster and Josie immediately obliged. Soon after the girl put a second finger inside her girlfriend, making her dig her nails in Josie’s shoulders and then scratch her, leaving a trail of red marks. 

Both girls continued kissing as Josie quickened her pace. A couple of minutes passed and the girl felt Hope’s body tense up.

“I’m so close, baby!” 

As soon as Josie heard that she continued pumping in and out of her girlfriend and not long after, she felt Hope’s walls tighten around her fingers.

“Jo-” Hope tried to scream, but Josie was quick to kiss her to shut her up as she let her ride out her orgasm. 

When the girl finally calmed down and her breathing became normal, Josie pulled her fingers out of her and licked them in the most erotic way possible.

“God, you’re so fucking hot right now,” Hope just told her and couldn’t believe that she was dating such a sexy and gorgeous girl. To her Josie was the most beautiful and amazing person in the whole world. Nothing could ever change that.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hope decided to go back to her own house the next day and face her father. She had read all the text messages that she had received the night before and they actually weren’t as bad as she thought they would be. Her best friend Penelope was really worried and had spammed her with about 150 text messages asking where she is and that she doesn’t blame her for losing the game. She also told her that the team doesn’t blame her either, so everything is fine. Marcel had also sent her a lot of messages. He even sent Josie some too, just to confirm that Hope was with her and that she was safe. 

The girl unlocked the front door, knowing full well that her father was going to be inside the house at that time. Marcel had told her that their dad was going to be home at that exact moment, so Hope took this opportunity to stand up to him. She had a newfound confidence thanks to her girlfriend who brought some sense into her the previous night.

As soon as the girl walked into the living room, she noticed her father sitting on the couch, looking through his phone. He was probably reading some online media posts about their company like he usually does. When the man finally acknowledged his daughter’s presence, he didn’t bother moving. The only thing that he did was say one sentence that made Hope feel like crap.

“You’re a failure, Hope.”

To Klaus  Mikaelson  she indeed was a failure. He had specifically instructed her to train as hard as possible. He had told her how important that game was for her future and for the reputation of their company and she had failed him. He was so utterly disappointed in her. 

“I made one mistake, dad,” Hope told him, trying to defend herself. “I missed one freethrow.”

“Yes, you did. You missed the most important one, the one that cost you the entire game.”

“I’m allowed to make mistakes.”

“No, you’re not!” Klaus snapped at her. “You’re my daughter and when I tell you to do something, you have to listen to me. You are not allowed to make mistakes when those mistakes will jeopardize your future and our family’s reputation!”

Hope couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of her father’s mouth.  _That’s all he cares about, the damn family’s reputation._

Hope couldn’t take it anymore and yelled at him, “That’s the only thing you care about!” She voiced out her thoughts. She was finally standing up to him and telling him something that she was meaning to tell him for years.

“Reputation is important right now, Hope,” Klaus said firmly. “How can you not understand that?”

“And how can you not understand that I’m trying my best. I’m trying so hard to be the perfect daughter for you, but I can’t.” Hope was now crying as she yelled at her father. ”I’m not perfect, dad. I’m never going to be perfect because perfect people don’t exist!” 

“Your best is not good enough.”

Hope had officially had it with her father. She couldn’t get through his thick skull no matter what she said to him. It was so frustrating for her.

“Whatever. I’m going to my room,” the girl just muttered under her breath and attempted to leave, but her father stopped her in her tracks. 

“I told you not to come home if you lose that game. Get out of my house!”

“You can’t be serious!”

Hope was so shocked that her father had actually told her to leave.

“Oh, I’m dead serious. Get out!” Klaus continued yelling at his daughter.

“Please, dad. Don’t do this. I promise that I’ll be better. I won’t disappoint you again!” Hope was now pleading to her father who continued looking at her with that stone cold expression. It was like the man had split personalities. Sometimes he was the sweetest man in the world when he wanted to be, like during the dinner with Josie, but at other times, it was like he was the most cold-hearted person in the world. “Please give me a second chance!”

Klaus sighed when he heard his daughter’s pleading voice. He was wondering if he should really give her a second chance after she embarrassed him so much and disobeyed him, affecting the reputation of the family and the company.

Hope was crying and she was on her knees when the man finally spoke again, “Fine. I’m giving you one last chance and you better not disappoint me.”

“Thank you so much, dad. I promise that I won’t!”

“Go outside and do 200 freethrows in a row. If you miss one, you start over again, understand?” Klaus said as he saw his daughter standing up from the floor. “You’ll be doing 200 freethrows every day for the next month.”

Hope felt like she was going to be sick. Those were a lot of free throws, but she had no choice. She had to obey her father’s wishes.

“Okay, I understand.”

“I’ll call the scout and try to fix the mess that you made.”

After that Hope went outside and got started on those freethrows. She really hated her father and wished that she had left when he kicked her out, but she had nowhere else to go. She couldn’t stay with Josie or any of her friends for longer than a day or two. She didn’t want to be an inconvenience, so she did the only thing that she could do at that moment. Obeying her father’s wishes was her only option. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Klaus Mikaelson is one scary father... :/ Poor Hope :( 
> 
> P.S. I hadn't written smut in like 6 years, so excuse me if it was kinda bad :D .... Anyway hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. <3


	21. Things are getting serious now

[A few weeks later]

  
  


Hope and Josie  were lying on the bed in Josie’s bedroom, cuddled up against each other. They were enjoying their time together at that moment because they could barely see each other for the past few weeks. Hope had been training like crazy because of her father. The interview he had scheduled for her with the scout went pretty well and Klaus was pleased for the time being, but Hope still had to undergo his crazy training schedules.

Josie didn’t have much free time either. She was taking part in so many projects and extracurricular activities for school, that she was practically going to sleep with her textbooks. 

This moment that they were sharing on Josie’s bed was the first time in weeks when the girls had some time to hang out. It was only for about 1-2 hours, but it was better than nothing. 

“My dad is such a dick. He is planning some party for Marcel, to celebrate your fake relationship,” Hope muttered under her breath, making Josie giggle. 

“You’re so cute when you’re jealous,” the girl replied to Hope’s comment. She had her arm around her and was gently caressing her. “This fake relationship was your idea.”

“Well, you should’ve broken it off 2 weeks ago.”

“We can’t risk it. We agreed on that already. We can’t let your parents catch on to us.” Hope just pouted at her girlfriend’s words. “Don’t worry, my love. You know that it’s all fake. I’m all yours”

Josie then gave her girlfriend a soft short kiss on the lips, making her absolutely melt in her arms. 

“I wish I didn’t have to leave soon,” Hope uttered and then buried her face in Josie’s neck. 

“I know, baby.”

“My dad wants me to train with one of his friends who used to be some hot shot basketball star back in the day,” the girl explained to Josie and then looked at her with sad eyes. It was like she was a cute little puppy whose owner was about to leave.

“Well, at least he’ll help you improve.”

“I’m already the best!” Hope playfully told her girlfriend and looked at her with a grin plastered on her face.

“Oh really? Need I remind you that just a few weeks ago, you were crying here like a baby, saying that you’re a failure!” Josie shot back at her, making that grin immediately disappear from her girlfriend’s face.

“That was the old me! The new me is the best! You should be honored that you’re dating me!”

“You’re so full of yourself, Hope!” Josie pushed her away, pretending to be mad. “What? Am I not good enough for you, your highness?!” 

“Baby, baby… I didn’t mean it like that!” Hope quickly tried to take control of the situation because she thought that her girlfriend actually took her seriously, even though she didn’t.

Josie then began laughing loudly at the reaction that she received. “I can’t believe how easily you fall for these things.”

“Oh come on, you know I’m kinda bad at reading people. I thought you were actually mad at me or something...” Hope was sincere when she said those words.

“Come here,” Josie then said and pulled her girlfriend closer to her, making the girl get back in her arms. She pushed Hope’s hair aside and then began leaving a trail of kisses all over her neck. 

“Babe...” A moan escaped Hope’s mouth as she felt her girlfriend’s lips over her bare skin. 

“Josie, is your friend staying for dinner. I made some-” Josie’s mother suddenly opened the door while the two girls were in that oh so inappropriate position.

They immediately pulled away from each other, but it was too late now. Caroline had seen them and her expression was a mixture of confused, shocked and angry. 

“Mom, I can explain. It’s-” Josie immediately tried telling her mother, but Caroline interrupted her.

“Josie, tell your friend to leave my house this instant!”

She wasn’t yelling but the tone in her voice made Josie feel as if someone was stabbing her to death at that moment.

Hope immediately took her jacket and bag, then bolted out of the room as fast as she possibly could. 

“Mom...” Josie stood up and her mother walked closer to her. They were now face to face. Suddenly before she knew it, she felt a hand slap her across the face. 

“How dare you? How dare you engage in such devious and sinful acts under my roof,” her mother yelled out and Josie just stared at her with a shocked expression. Her hand immediately went to her cheek where Caroline had slapped her a moment ago.

“I love her, mom...” 

That was the only thing Josie could say at that moment. She didn’t know anything else that she could say that would justify her actions. She just loved Hope so much. Why couldn’t her mother understand that and not think that this was wrong or ‘sinful’ as she put it?

“You’re 16 years old and confused. There’s no way that you know what you want!” Caroline argued with her daughter. 

“She makes me happy and I want to be with her. It’s as simple as that.” 

Josie was now yelling too and tears were even streaming down her face. She wanted so badly to convince her mother that this relationship was real and that her feelings for Hope weren’t just a joke, that she wasn’t confused. 

“She can’t give you what a man can. That is true love, being with a man and starting a family,” Caroline explained to her daughter. “This thing that you have with this girl. It’s nothing compared to what you can have with a man!”

“I don’t want a man, mother! I want her!”

“I thought I raised you better than this, Josie. This is so disappointing. I can’t listen to your delusional words anymore,” Caroline then uttered, her voice filled with hurt because in her head, it felt like her daughter was betraying her. “You are forbidden to see that girl! Do you understand me?”

“But mom…”

“No buts! Do as I say or I will call her parents and we’ll see who’s scarier!” Alaric threatened, making Josie immediately shut up. 

After that her mother left her room and slammed the door behind her, leaving Josie in the middle of the room. She fell down on her knees and began sobbing. She could literally feel her heart breaking at that moment as thoughts of her and Hope breaking up filled her mind.

She then heard the door open again a few seconds later and the girl looked up with tear-filled eyes. Lizzie walked into the room and immediately threw her arms around her sister. Josie let herself crumble in her arms. She buried her face in Lizzie’s neck and continued sobbing, staining her shirt with her tears. 

Lizzie had heard the whole thing and she felt so horrible about what was happening to her sister. She was surprised that Josie was dating a girl, but she didn’t find it strange or disgusting like their mother did. In fact, she actually thought that it was kind of cool, different. It made Josie unique. 

“Mom is such a bitch,” Lizzie said as soon as she felt her sister calm down a bit. “I can’t believe she’s standing in the way of your epic romance.”

Josie chuckled as soon as she heard those words and pulled away a bit so she could look at her sister’s face. 

“This is the first time I’ve heard you call mom anything remotely offensive,” Josie said to her sister and wiped the tears from her eyes. 

“Well, she deserves it. I can’t believe the nerve of her...” Lizzie was pissed off at their mother so much and thought that she was definitely out of line. “I mean, forbidding you to see the girl. What century does she think we live in?”

Josie was a little surprised that her sister was on her side. They usually don’t agree easily on anything, but this time, they had the same exact opinion about the situation. She was glad, though, that she has her on her side. Without saying anything, Josie gave her sister a nice warm hug.

“Thank you...”

A few minutes later, Lizzie tried to lighten the mood by asking her sister some questions about her and Hope’s relationship. She asked how long they’ve been dating, how they met, how it all started and of course how far they’ve gone, everything. Lizzie wanted to learn every single detail about it.

Josie felt nice when she answered the questions and maybe a bit embarrassed when she was telling her that they’ve indeed had sex. Thankfully Lizzie hadn’t heard them a few weeks ago when they were doing it. Josie mentally sighed in relief because of that. She didn’t want her sister hearing sex noises coming from her room. 

Talking to Lizzie was good. It took her mind off the horrible situation that had happened just a few moments ago. At that moment, Josie was so happy that she wasn’t an only child. She wouldn’t trade her sister for the world.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Josie was laying in bed that night, thinking hard about the events that happened during the day with her mother and with Lizzie. She felt like her relationship with her mother crumbled in just a few minutes, but with Lizzie, it was like it grew so much stronger. They were never particularly close, but it was like this whole situation just brought them closer. They spent hours talking after that, before they had to go to dinner with their parents. Her father was eating with them for once, which surprised Josie. Caroline hadn’t said anything to him because she didn’t want to worry him and she thought that she could handle matters herself, so there was no point in telling him. Dinner was silent as her mother didn’t ask her usual questions. Alaric had said one or two things about work, but that was about it. After that Josie and Lizzie helped their mother wash the dishes as their father went to watch TV. When they were done, Josie and Lizzie went to their separate rooms to do their own things. 

Josie kept thinking about how having Hope sleeping over at her house was over now, sadly, unless her parents were off on some business trip. She and Hope could probably still make it work. They could see each other at school and at Hope’s place. Josie’s mother wouldn’t know. If she would maybe tell her that she was going to MG’s place, her mother wouldn’t ask questions. Josie was determined to not give up on her relationship with Hope, no matter what. There was no way in hell that things were going to end this way.

Suddenly Josie was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her phone buzzing, signaling that she had received a text message from her girlfriend. 

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: Babe, we’ll get through this, don’t worry. We can still see each other at school. <3**

  
  


Josie smiled when she saw her girlfriend’s supportive message. They had talked a few hours ago about how they won’t give up so easily and how they’ll continue with their relationship no matter what, so both of them were on the same page.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: Yes, we’ll get through this! <3 I love you so much, Hope…**

  
  


Josie shot her girlfriend a text message quickly and then brought her phone to her heart. She felt like her love for Hope was greater than anything in this whole damn world and as if they could conquer anything together.

  
  


  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit kinda went down... :/ I was kinda reliving it while writing the chapter :D my mom said the same things to me when she found out that I was dating a girl years ago, so... yeah. It sucks. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter <3 
> 
> All comments and kudos are much appreciated! <3


	22. Passing notes in class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of smut in this chapter guys :D just a heads up :D 
> 
> Enjoy!

As days passed on, Hope and Josie had successfully managed to avoid getting caught. They were texting most of the time, though, so it wasn’t all that hard, and at school, they would usually sneak out at the back of the building for a quick cuddle and make out session. It had seemed like nothing really changed, other than the fact that Hope couldn’t come over to Josie’s house and Josie’s mother believing that she had her way and the two girls weren’t communicating at all. The woman was so delusional in thinking that her daughter was actually obeying her orders. Little did she know that Josie spent her nights sexting her girlfriend and sending some pretty provocative pictures. Oh how ashamed her mother would be if she found out about this…

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: You’re so sexy, you know that? :3 You make me go crazy…**

**Hope Mikaelson: You literally have the body of a goddess! <3**

  
  


Josie smirked as soon as she read the text messages that her girlfriend had sent her. She knew that the half-naked picture she sent Hope a little while ago would surely pay off. 

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: I’m so turned on right now… I wish you were here to help me with that **

  
  


Josie had no doubt in her mind that her girlfriend was extremely wet. In all honesty, she herself was very very wet and so damn turned on. She closed her eyes for a little while and imagined Hope’s lips on her neck and her hands roaming all over her body.

It was 1 AM on a school night and Josie knew that she should go to sleep, but instead she was having way more fun with these sexual fantasies of hers.

**Hope Mikaelson: Babe, are you touching yourself?**

Josie’s eyes shot open when she felt her phone vibrate in her hand. She read the message that she received and bit her lower lip. She slid her other hand down her panties and felt exactly how wet she was. She imagined that it was Hope’s fingers who were touching her at that moment.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: Yeah… I am**

  
  


The girl sent out a text message with her other hand and closed her eyes again. She felt her breathing become more difficult with each passing second as she slid a finger inside herself.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: I have 2 fingers inside myself, babe… I wish they were yours so badly.**

  
  


Josie read the text message as soon as she felt her phone buzz. The image in her head of Hope touching herself made her even hornier. She came up with an idea afterwards. Josie hit the recording button and then sent Hope a 15 second voice message of how hard she’s breathing and of the quiet moans that she’s letting out.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: This is because of you. God, I wish I could feel you so badly…**

  
  


A minute or so later, Josie received a response from her girlfriend, telling her how incredible she sounds and how she wants nothing more than to pleasure her and to satisfy her every need.

Both girls pleasured themselves and texted each other at the same time for a few more minutes before they both came so hard, their thoughts only about each other at that moment. 

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: I love you! <3**

**Josie Saltzman: I love you too, baby! More than anything! <3**

  
  


* * *

  
  


On the next day, Hope and Josie met up behind the school building during lunchtime. They had missed each other a lot more after their sexting during the previous night. As soon as they saw each other, Josie immediately pulled her girlfriend in for a kiss. 

The two just couldn’t get enough of each other, which was only natural because they were a couple of hormonal teenagers. Their kiss was cut short, though, because Hope’s phone suddenly began ringing. 

The shorter girl pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen. Her father was calling her and Hope immediately knew what it was going to be about.

“Hey, dad.” Hope said as soon as she answered the call. 

“Hope, I need you to pick some stuff up for Marcel and Josie’s party next week,” Klaus told her from the other line and Hope frowned because she really didn’t want to deal with this crap. Plus, she had no idea how they’ll pull off Josie actually not being at the party. It was risky because of the girl’s mother who believed that her daughter wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near the Mikaelson family’s house. So it was better for her to kind of be avoiding it like the plague.

“Okay, fine. Text me what I need to get.”

“Also, I want to invite Josie’s parents as well. I asked Marcel to get me their personal numbers, but he still hasn’t given them to me. Can you get them, please?” Klaus asked his daughter, making her eyes immediately widen in panic. 

“Uhh, I’ll see what I can do. Okay...” 

That was all Hope could answer before her father said that he was counting on her and then hung up the phone.

“What’s wrong?” Josie asked with a worried voice because her girlfriend still had that panicked expression on her face.

“My dad wants to invite your parents to the party he’s throwing for you and Marcel. He asked me to get their personal numbers,” Hope explained, making Josie worry even more.

“Shit, this is bad… I think it’s time for me to fake break up with your brother,” Josie told her girlfriend and Hope just nodded.

“I think so too. It’s been a while since the dinner, so I think it could be believable.”

“Yeah. Plus, now that I think about it, this whole fake relationship was super unnecessary anyway,” Josie expressed her opinion, making Hope look down in embarrassment. She should never have asked her girlfriend to do this. It was all just a spur of the moment kind of decision just because of that stupid handcuffs situation. Hope felt a little stupid that they actually went through this whole thing but they were dumb teenagers. Stupid and unnecessary ideas was their specialty.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Hope apologized and pulled away from her girlfriend, but Josie quickly pulled her back into her arms. 

“Don’t be. I know that you have very dumb ideas sometimes.” Josie tightened her hold on the other girl. “You’re such a dummy… But you’re my dummy!”

“I love you,” Hope whispered and closed her eyes, inhaling her girlfriend’s intoxicating scent. 

“I love you too!” Josie replied back and after that they spent the rest of the lunch enjoying each other’s company. They thought that Josie didn’t really need to break up with Marcel in front of Klaus and Hayley, but Marcel would just tell them to cancel the party, because they had broken up due to some big fight. Then he’ll act depressed for a while and hopefully the whole thing would blow over.

Both girls agreed on that idea because it seemed the simplest. It was better than them staging a whole scene in front of the parents.

When lunch was over, Hope and Josie went to their separate classes, immediately missing each other the moment they parted ways.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Man, this class is gonna be horrible! I haven’t studied shit...” Penelope groaned in frustration as she and Hope sat down at the back of the class. 

“Ugh, I know… Who needs Sociology anyway?” Hope and leaned back in her seat, sighing loudly.

A minute or so later, the teacher walked into the classroom and began writing something on the board for all of them to copy down.

Hope and Penelope weren’t writing it down of course. Instead, they decided to pass notes to each other and have a conversation like that, because it was so much more fun than this boring class.

  
  


_ Do you wanna go play some pool later?  _

  
  


Hope read the first note and immediately frowned because she was meeting up with Josie later. She felt bad for blowing Penelope off yet again but she had too. At that moment she badly wanted to see Josie and the girl was her first priority. She was probably a really horrible best friend, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to spend as much time with her girlfriend as possible.

  
  


_ I can’t. I have homework to do.  _

  
  


Penelope immediately rolled her eyes when she read that and wrote down her response, the annoyance building up.

  
  


_ Since when did you become such a nerd? Are you hanging out with those geeks from the Economics club? Don’t tell me that they’re your new best friends… _

  
  


Hope sighed and felt even more horrible after reading that. It’s not that she didn’t want to spend time with Penelope. Josie was just more important to her right now. 

  
  


_ No, dude. No way! You know I don’t hang out with those nerds. My dad’s been up my ass since we lost the game, so that’s why I need to keep my grades up. _

  
  


Hope tried to do some damage control because she couldn’t let Penelope catch in on anything. The dislike she had for Josie and her friends was so obvious that Hope was scared of even admitting that she was communicating with them in any way.

  
  


_ Fine… But I want us to hang out this weekend! You owe me that, you bitch! >< _

  
  


Hope smiled at the little annoyed emoji that her best friend drew on the paper and then looked at Penelope before nodding her head in agreement. Penelope then smiled and turned her attention to the teacher who was still writing some boring stuff on the board. It looked as if he was going to give them some task to do, but the girls weren’t sure.

A few minutes later, the teacher stopped writing and turned around to face the class.

“Alright, kids. I wrote down a few great words from one of the foundational thinkers of sociology – Karl Marx!” Mr. Hamilton told everyone with enthusiasm. “I want you all to copy them and then for the next 15 minutes write down your opinion on them, then we can begin a debate.”

The whole class groaned in frustration because they really didn’t want to do this stupid shit. Who cares what some dude who lived in the 19 th century thinks? But they opened their notebooks and began writing. Even Hope and Penelope decided to participate because the teacher might ask them what they had written. Penelope took out her phone and searched for some essays on Karl Marx and Hope did the same thing. It was easier for them to copy some stuff from the internet than to actually think of the text themselves. 

“Alright, who wants to tell me what they wrote down?” Mr. Hamilton asked the whole class after the 15 minutes were over. He then waited for a volunteer but no one raised their hand. “Well, since nobody wants to participate willingly. I’ll have to pick someone.”

The man then scanned the class and his eyes fell on the students in the back row. 

“Please not me, please not me...” Hope prayed under her breath, but unfortunately, she was unlucky. The teacher had called her name. 

“Tell us what you think, Hope!” Mr. Hamilton happily exclaimed and waited for the girl to start reading.

“Marxism, a body of doctrine developed by Karl Marx and, to a lesser extent, by Friedrich Engels in the mid-19th century. It originally consisted of three related ideas: a philosophical anthropology, a theory of history, and an economic and political program.” It was as if Hope was reading this interpretation out of a textbook. Nobody in that class believed that she had actually written any of that, but they stood silent.

“Very well, Hope. Now if you can explain to me what philosophical anthropology is, I’ll actually believe that you wrote that yourself,” Mr. Hamilton said, making the whole class laugh and Hope panic a little.

“Uhh, it’s...” the girl gulped as she tried speaking. She had no idea what it was. She just copied this shit from the internet without thinking really.”It’s-”

“You don’t know, huh?” Mr. Hamilton interrupted her and leaned on his desk. “It’s a discipline in philosophy, Hope. It seeks to unify the several empirical investigations of human nature in an effort to understand individuals as both creatures of their environment and creators of their own values.” 

“Oh...” 

That was all Hope could say, making the class laugh again. 

“Oh is right… See me after class,” Mr. Hamilton told her and then continued on with the lesson, making several other students who didn’t copy anything from the internet read what they wrote. Thankfully, when the debate started, the teacher didn’t ask her anything. She felt on edge, though. She hated having to deal with this crap, studying a subject that she sure as hell wasn’t interested in. At that moment, Hope’s mind drifted off to thoughts of Josie and how she was perfect in every school subject and how she actually enjoyed all these things that they were studying. 

She couldn’t believe that a stupid jock like her was actually dating such a smart and perfect girl like Josie. At that moment, Hope felt like the luckiest person in the whole world for having Josie in her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are looking great for Hosie right now... but I gotta tell you guys, all hell will break lose in the next chapter... :( Be prepared. 
> 
> Your comments are much appreciated by the way! <3 You guys are awesome!


	23. All Hell Breaks Loose

Josie came back home after school a little later that day, around 6 PM, because she had been hanging out with Hope. What she didn’t expect to find the moment she walked into her house was her mother waiting for her, her expression cold and Josie immediately felt afraid of what’s going to happen next. Josie thought that her mother seemed as angry as she was the day she caught her and Hope making out.

“Where were you?” Caroline immediately asked her daughter with a stern voice, ready for a fight.

“I was with Dana. We were working on a project together,” Josie lied to her mother and hoped that the woman would buy her excuse.

“Oh, really? Because I ran into Dana and her mother at the grocery store earlier and she told me something different.” Caroline crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at her daughter expectantly, waiting for the girl to come clean about exactly where she was. “Want to try that again? And don’t you dare lie to me, Josie!”

“Fine, I wasn’t with Dana...”

“You were with that girl again, weren’t you?” Caroline moved closer to her and Josie immediately panicked and took a step back, afraid that her mother would slap her again. The girl then nodded her head, making Caroline even angrier. “I told you that you were forbidden to see her. How dare you disobey my orders!”

“I had to see her. This is so unfair. Why can’t you just let us be happy?” Josie was now sobbing as she spoke to her mother.

“Because what you’re doing is wrong! You cannot do things like that with a girl, Josie,” Caroline yelled out in anger, making Josie feel even worse. She couldn’t take it anymore so she just ran off to her room and slammed the door behind her.

The girl spent the next hour or so just lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She felt like she just couldn’t move a muscle. At that moment, it was like Josie had no will to live. She wondered what was going to happen now, after her mother caught her again. Soon after, she got her answer. Her door opened and in came her mother.

“I spoke to your homeroom teacher and got the number of the girl’s parents,” Caroline explained to her daughter. “I called her mother and informed her about everything.”

“You what?” Josie uttered and stared at her mother as her whole world came crashing down in that moment. Things just got a lot more serious.

“Mrs. Mikaelson told me that I didn’t have to worry about anything because her daughter wouldn’t contact you again,” Caroline explained with a satisfied expression on her face.

At that moment Josie just kept thinking about how she could’ve been raised by such a monster. Her mother was by far the most horrible person in this whole world.

* * *

  
  


Hope was at the dinner table with her brother and parents the moment that Hayley received the phone call from Josie’s mother. What followed next was probably one of the worst things that Hope had ever experienced.

“I just got an interesting phone call,” Hayley stated as she sat back down at the table with an angry expression. “Apparently our daughter here was caught kissing a girl.”

“What?” Klaus suddenly yelled out and the utensils he was holding fell down into his plate, the loud sound making everyone else jump in their seats.

“She was caught kissing Josie. Yes, Josie, the girl that her brother had been dating till a couple of days ago!” Hayley said with disgust, appalled by her daughter’s behavior.

“Hope, is this true?” Klaus turned to his daughter with a question, hoping that she would deny everything. Hope stood silent, unable to look her father in the eyes. “Answer me!” the man then screamed, making her even more scared than she already was.

“It’s true...” the girl managed to say as tears began forming in her eyes.

“How could you do this to our family? After we have accomplished so much and what me and your mother have done for you, this is how you repay us?!” Klaus was yelling so much and Hope could swear that this was the angriest she’s ever seen him. “You engage in such devious behavior, and with Josie of all people.”

Throughout all of this Hayley and Marcel stood silent, not daring to say anything. Klaus was scary as hell when he was mad.

“She was never his girlfriend!” Hope suddenly began yelling too. “We made it all up. She was mine. All mine, dad!”

Hope then stood up from the table and was going to leave, but her father caught her by the wrist, immediately stopping her in her tracks.

“My daughter is not a lesbian!” Klaus screamed in anger. “You are forbidden to see or speak to that girl again, do you understand me?” Hope gritted her teeth and pulled her arm away from her father’s grasp. Klaus then turned to his son and started yelling at him too, “So you knew about this behavior and you didn’t try to stop it?! I am so disappointed in you, Marcel. I’m disappointed in both of you.”

With all that commotion, the peaceful family dinner had turned into a nightmare. Hope felt her heart breaking at the thought that she wouldn’t be able to see Josie. She thought that it was so unfair that this was happening to them and she just wished that she could rewind time and they’d be back to when they would hang out together and watch movies, kiss whenever they felt like it. This pain that Hope was feeling in her chest was something that she had never experienced before.

“Don’t even think about seeing that girl at school, Hope!” Klaus told his daughter. “I’ll find out about it if you do.”

“How? It’s not like you’re stalking my every move!”

“Don’t underestimate me, girl! You have no idea what I’m capable of!” Klaus threatened her. Maybe he was bluffing, or maybe not, but Hope actually believed him at that moment. The fear took over and she was worried that her might do something to Josie. He is an influential man after all.

“Fine, I won’t see her anymore, if that’s what you want...” Hope gave up trying to argue with her father.

“Good! Don’t let this happen ever again. You’re not a lesbian. You will be with a man eventually!” Klaus told his daughter firmly. “I will not let you ruin this family’s reputation over some bitch!”

Hope hated hearing her father call her girlfriend a bitch. She hated someone telling her what to do, but she had no other choice at that moment. She had nowhere to go if her father were to kick her out.

“Can I go to my room?” Hope then asked, hoping that her father would say that she can, so this nightmare could be finally over.

“You can. You’re grounded. You will leave this house only for school and for basketball training outside, are we clear?”

Hope nodded her head when she heard her father’s words and then ran off to her room. She then immediately jumped on the bed and buried her face in her pillow. The girl couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. She felt so much worse than when she lost the basketball tournament. _Why are things so damn complicated?!_

About half an hour later, Hope received a text message from Josie, which surprised her because she thought that maybe her mother would take away her phone or laptop or something.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: Hey…**

Hope felt the other girl’s sadness through the text message and then immediately responded.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: Hey :(**

  
  


Honestly, she didn’t really know what to say right now, so she just waited for Josie to text her something.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: What are we going to do? Is this the end for our relationship?**

  
  


Hope felt like she was about to cry again as soon as she read that.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: I don’t know. My dad threatened me that he’ll find out if I see you at school. I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to see each other. :(**

**Josie Saltzman: I’m scared, Hope… But I don’t want to give you up ;(**

**Hope Mikaelson: How can we be so right for each other and yet we can’t be together? Why is this so unfair? **

  
  


Hope thought that all of this seemed like a horrible nightmare that she wished she could just wake up from. She kept replaying the conversation at dinner in her head and felt even more horrible each time. Hope needed to come up with a solution, something that would allow her to be together with Josie, but she just really didn’t know what to do.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: I know. I feel so broken, Hope… **

**Hope Mikaelson: Maybe we should just text each other for the next week or so, until everything dies down. After that maybe we can try hanging out again?**

**Josie Saltzman: Is a week going to be enough, though? Won’t it be too soon?**

**Hope Mikaelson: Let’s try for a week at first, to just text each other, and then we’ll see what we’ll do after that.**

  
  


It’s just a week. They could handle not seeing each other for a week, right?

  
  


* * *

  
  


Josie woke up on the next day feeling just as horrible as the night before. She had to get ready for school, but she really didn’t want to. Things were awkward with her mother that morning. Caroline barely said a word to her daughter. She drove Josie and her sister to their respective schools in silence. When Josie got out of the car, she met up with MG. She had already told her best friend everything that happened and the boy was really sympathetic and tried to make her feel better by telling her that everything will be okay, that things would eventually work out and that she and Hope would find some sort of solution.

“So, your mom is totally against your relationship, but have you spoken to your dad? What’s his take on all of this?” MG asked his best friend while they were sitting at their desk in literature class.

“She told him, but there was no reaction. He didn’t speak to me about it. It seemed like he didn’t care what was happening and just let my mother handle things,” Josie answered her best friend’s question and opened her textbook. “I’m not that surprised. I think he’s too busy with his whores at work to care what’s happening.”

“Well, at least you don’t have to worry about him. I can’t imagine how Hope is feeling with both her parents on her case...”

Before Josie could say anything, the literature teacher walked into the class and was ready to begin his lesson.

“Before we start. I want you all to place your homework on my desk,” Mr. Ho said and looked at everyone, his cute boyish smile on his face. He was a really young and hot student teacher. All of the girls in that class except Josie were drooling over him.

“Oh shit...” Josie cursed under her breath because she realized that she had forgotten to do her homework. It was no surprise, though, after that scandal with her mother.

Mr. Ho had heard the girl and immediately asked, “Is something wrong, Josie?”

The whole class turned to her, making the girl panic. This was so embarrassing for her because she was the star student. She wasn’t the type to forget to do her homework.

“I didn’t do my homework, Mr. Ho...” Josie said and looked away in embarrassment. She couldn’t look her teacher in the eyes because she didn’t want to see the disappointment written all over his face.

“Oh, that’s such a shame, Josie. I was really looking forward to reading your interpretation,” the man said with a sad tone in his voice.

At that moment, Josie felt like she had let him and herself down as well. She was supposed to be perfect, but it was the exact opposite. The girl thought that the whole world was against her and she just wanted to dig herself a whole and hide there for all eternity. _I can’t wait for this damn day to be over._ _Could things get even worse?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this guys... This was by far the hardest chapter I had to write. I feel for both Hope and Josie and I relived the whole experience again as I wrote it in this chapter. Hope you still enjoyed it despite everything <3 
> 
> There will be a bit more angst in the next chapter and then things will get slightly better. Stay tuned! <3
> 
> Thank you all for commenting. I appreciate that so much. Love you all ^-^


	24. Hard to concentrate

The next few days were difficult for both Josie and Hope. They haven’t seen each other at all during school hours and afterwards as well, even though they badly wanted to. 

Josie felt as if she had no will to live. She barely did her homework or work on any of her projects because all she could think of was Hope. She was fighting with her mother a lot and barely ate anything. This whole situation was taking a huge toll on the girl. 

Hope spent all her time training, when she wasn’t at school of course. Now that the team was out of the tournament, they didn’t have basketball practice. She had also gotten quite used to the number of freethrows her father made her do every day, so it didn’t bother her that much anymore. The only thing that was troubling her was the fact that she was missing her girlfriend a lot. 

Both of them have just been texting because they couldn’t do anything else, it was too risky. They couldn’t afford getting caught again. Who knows what their parents would do if they did…

“Josie, your teacher Mr. Vardemus called me this morning,” Caroline said to her daughter as the whole family was having dinner together. Lizzie looked at her sister in panic, because she was anticipating yet another fight. Alaric on the other hand just continued eating his food without giving everyone a second glance. He seemed so disinterested in everything happening in this family.

“What did he say?” Josie asked her mother worriedly. She didn’t feel like eating anymore.

“He’s worried that your grades are slipping.”

It was the truth. She was really behind on everything, so it was only natural that her school performance would be affected. 

“Well, maybe if you hadn’t forbidden me to see Hope, things would’ve been okay!” Josie just shot at her mother and then stood up from the table. _Here we go again, another fight. _Lizzie thought and sighed as she looked back and forth from her sister to their mother.

“Oh so now it’s my fault? I’m just trying to protect you from making a huge mistake, Josie. This relationship that you had with that girl wasn’t right. It goes against the laws of human nature,” Caroline told her daughter for probably the hundredth time how wrong it was for a girl to date another girl, making Josie feel sick to her stomach.

“I can’t deal with this again...” Josie began walking towards her room, but her mother followed behind her, wanting to continue this conversation.

“You’ll thank me in the future. I’m doing this for your own good.”

Josie hated how her mother just wouldn’t shut up about this. She understood her opinion, she freaking got it. What more did her mother want? It was unnecessary to remind her every day about how wrong her feelings for Hope were. It made her feel like crap.

“Fine! I got it. Can you leave me alone now?” Josie yelled, obviously really frustrated with the whole situation. Caroline crossed her arms in front of her chest and then continued speaking.

“Alright, but I want you to do your homework tonight. I’ll come back in an hour to check on your progress...”

Josie nodded without saying anything back. She was so tired of fighting with her mother every night for the past few days, that sometimes she barely had the energy to continue speaking. 

After Caroline left Josie alone, the girl took out her textbooks and notes. She threw them on the bed and groaned loudly. She really didn’t want to deal with this crap right now, but she had to. Everyone was counting on her, especially her teachers. She wanted to do her best but you need to be at your best to be able to do that, and right now, Josie felt like she was at her worst. 

This was the first time Josie was doing her homework without any enthusiasm at all. All her life she had always been the perfect student, always met the necessary deadlines and did her homework without fail. This time it was just all too much for the girl and all she cared about was Hope. It was like her whole existence didn’t matter because Hope wasn’t by her side.

“Stupid homework...” Josie muttered as she opened up her math textbook. They were on the unit with quadratic equations, which Josie usually loved. She adored everything algebra related, but at the moment, she didn’t feel like solving even one measly equation. She had to, though, because the teacher gave them about 15 of them for homework. So Josie forced herself to work on them. Once she did the first one, she found herself getting into the zone. It just became easier afterwards to do the rest. 

About 20 minutes later, as she was nearing the end of her math homework, she felt her phone vibrate next to her. The girl took a look and smiled when she noticed that her girlfriend had sent her a text message.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: Hey <3 What are you doing, baby? **

  
  


Josie immediately replied to it without thinking. She typed out a message and of course, she didn’t forget to include a kiss emoji in it.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: Hey! ;* Almost done with my math homework. The witch got all up my ass about the fact that my grades are slipping.**

**Hope Mikaelson: Oh babe… It seems like you and the textbooks are having some problems. Maybe it’s time for you to break up with them ;) **

  
  


Josie laughed when she read the funny text message. 

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: You’d like that so much, wouldn’t you? :3**

**Hope Mikaelson: Sure as hell I would. Anything to have you all to myself ;)**

  
  


Hope and Josie continued texting for a while longer before Hope told her that she promised Penelope they’d play some online game. Josie felt a bit sad about that, but she couldn’t make Hope text her 24/7. She didn’t want to be that clingy girlfriend, even though she came close. 

A few minutes later, the girl heard the door to her room open and immediately knew that it was her mother. The woman had told her that she’d check on her exactly 1 hour ago and she was right on time, as usual.

“I assume you’ve finished your homework since you’re playing with your phone,” Caroline stated firmly and moved closer to her daughter.

“I finished some of it...” Josie replied and put her phone away before grabbing her notebook to show her mother the equations that she had solved.

“What else do you have to do?” Caroline asked her and Josie pointed at the rest of the textbooks before speaking.

“I have an essay to write for Literature class, to learn about the Civil war in the USA for History, to analyze some graphs for Economics and to work on the extracurricular projects,” Josie explained and suddenly realized that she indeed had a lot of things to do. 

“Alright, well. I’m going to bed soon. Finish as much as you can and continue tomorrow.” Caroline was just as tired of fighting as Josie was, so she didn’t argue with her daughter more for the remainder of the night. “It’s not like you’ll be going out anywhere.”

“Okay...”

Caroline then wished her daughter a good night and left her alone in her room once again. Another sigh escaped Josie’s mouth before she continued doing the rest of her work. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hope had promised Penelope that they’d hang out on the weekend, but she was grounded since her parents found out about her and Josie’s relationship. This meant that she couldn’t go out anywhere if it wasn’t for school or basketball training. The two were supposed to go play some pool or something, but that wasn’t possible at the moment, so Penelope decided to come to Hope’s house and shoot some hoops with her on her personal basketball court.

“You never told me why you got grounded, Hope...” Penelope asked her best friend and passed her the ball. 

“I don’t really want to talk about it, Pen...” Hope just stated, hoping that her best friend would drop the subject. 

“Alright, well… If you ever need to talk to someone, I’m here to listen, you know that, right?” 

“I know. Thank you...” Hope was sure that Penelope would be there for her if she needed it, but she really was trying to forget everything that happened at that horrible dinner. “Now let’s play 1 vs 1. I want to feel the satisfaction of kicking your ass at basketball.”

Hope then threw the ball at the hoop and it got in, of course. Her best friend was standing under it and immediately grabbed the ball as soon as it fell. 

“You wish. You’re not the only one who’s been practicing,” Penelope stated, making Hope laugh at her. 

“If you say so.”

The girls then played for about an hour or so before they decided to take a break. They sat down on the bench near the court and took out a water bottle each.

“I told you I’ve been practicing,” Penelope told her best friend with a smirk on her face. “I almost beat you this time.”

“Yeah, you definitely have improved.” 

Hope then drank half of the liquid in her water bottle. She was so thirsty and it felt like she couldn’t get enough. Water had never tasted so good to her.

As soon as she put it back in her bag, she immediately heard a small buzzing sound coming from inside. Her phone was vibrating and she immediately knew that it was probably a message from Josie.

Penelope was quick to ask about it because she had heard it too. “Who’s texting you?” 

“Oh uh… my brother,” Hope just muttered before sending a quick response and putting her phone back into her bag, making Penelope suspicious.

“Show me,” her best friend then demanded. She was going to finally confront Hope about her and Josie.

“What? No!” 

“You didn’t have a problem showing me before. Unless you’re hiding something now.” Penelope was incredibly persistent, making Hope a bit annoyed.

“It’s personal. I can’t show you,” Hope continued lying and Penelope just sighed.

“I know that you’ve been texting that nerd. Stop lying to me.” 

Hope’s eyes widened the moment she heard her best friend’s words. Penelope had finally confronted her about this whole thing.  _How did she know? _ That was the first thought that came to Hope’s mind. 

“What?” she asked, making Penelope laugh at her reaction.

“I saw that you received a text message from her once when we were in the locker room together, asking whether you’ll be hanging out,” the girl explained and all Hope could utter at that moment was an “Oh...”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Penelope asked and Hope looked away, a bit embarrassed that she was caught lying.

“I saw how much you disliked Josie and the others, calling them losers and all. I got worried about your reaction if you knew that I was hanging out with them.” 

“Honestly, yeah. I’m not their biggest fan. They annoy the hell out of me because of how much all the teachers love them.” Penelope shared her opinion, the jealousy evident in her voice. Maybe she just wanted the teachers to treat her the same. 

“They’re just working really hard with their schoolwork.”

“I know. They deserve to be praised, but I hate the fact that all the teachers only care about them and ignore the rest of us who are struggling.” Penelope explained, making Hope a bit sad. Her best friend wasn’t the best at school. Basketball was kind of the only thing she was actually good at, so she really did have a hard time with the other subjects. Hope was kind of the same way, so she understood.

“I get it,” the girl said sympathetically and placed a hand on Penelope’s shoulder.

“Also, maybe I was a bit worried that you’d leave me for them.”

Hope smiled at Penelope who now wasn’t looking at her. The badass Penelope Park was worried that she’d leave her behind for her new friends. 

“I would never. You’re my best friend, Pen...” Hope reassured her. “Nothing’s going to change that.”

“It better not...”

Hope contemplated whether or not to tell Penelope about her relationship with Josie, but after all the reactions she received from her girlfriend’s parents and her own, she decided that it would be best to wait for a while. Her and Penelope were in a good place right now. They were hanging out, they talked, and Hope didn’t want to risk ruining that right now by telling her about her and Josie’s relationship. She was a bit scared of Penelope’s reaction, so she thought it would be better to wait just a little while longer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... :D Caroline is a bitch as usual and Penelope confronted Hope. There's small progress there. :D You're gonna have to wait a while before Penelope learns about her best friend's actual relationship status. :D 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you all for following this story and leaving comments. You guys are awesome! <3


	25. Sneaking around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! <3

[A week later]

The horrible week in which Josie and Hope agreed they wouldn’t see each other was finally over. Both of them were happy about it and thought that things really did blow over. Josie and her mother hadn’t been fighting for the past 3 days, which was amazing. In fact, Caroline actually attempted to spend some quality time with her daughter.

Hope’s parents didn’t mention anything about Josie and since the company got really significant results one of their projects, it meant that Klaus and Hayley were in a really great mood the past few days. Hope and Marcel weren’t even grounded anymore because of that, which was perfect. It felt like the universe was sending Josie and Hope a sign.

The two girls had agreed to meet up behind the school building at their usual spot during lunchtime so they could spend a little time with each other. Of course, they needed to be extra careful so nobody would see them. Hope was supposed to go there first and and then she’d wait for Josie.

“Mm, I missed you so much, Jo,” Hope said as soon as she saw her girlfriend arrive and gave her the tightest hug she could possibly give her.

“I missed you too,” Josie responded immediately and buried her face in the girl’s neck. “So damn much...”

Hope could feel her girlfriend relax in her arms. Oh how she missed this, just spending time with Josie without anyone bothering them. She had anticipated this moment for the past week and now that it was finally happening, Hope couldn’t be happier. She was still a little worried, though, because her father had threatened her about seeing Josie at school. But she couldn’t help it. She needed to see Josie so badly and she just prayed that he was bluffing or something, because if he were to find out again, then he might actually kick Hope out.

After about a minute or so spent hugging, Josie couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to feel her girlfriend’s lips on her own. She had been craving them so much, so she kissed Hope, pouring all those bottled up emotions into that one single kiss.

Josie tilted her head a little and deepened the kiss, her lips now moving hungrily against Hope’s. Her fingers were tangled in her girlfriend’s hair while Hope’s hands were on Josie’s waist. Just like that the two lost track of time. Before they knew it, lunchtime was over, but they didn’t really care at that moment. They just wanted to feel each other.

“As much as I’m enjoying having you all to myself, I think that we really need to head off to class,” Josie said as soon as she pulled her lips away from her girlfriend’s, making Hope groan in frustration. Both girls were horny as hell at that moment, but they couldn’t just hook up behind the school building no matter how badly they wanted to.

“You’re right,” Hope agreed with her girlfriend. “We’ll continue this another time then.”

“Yeah, definitely. You’re not getting away from me,” Josie teased and gave her girlfriend a short peck on the lips before taking her backpack in her hand. “I’ll go first. You wait for about 3 minutes and then go, so that it wouldn’t seem suspicious.”

Hope nodded and after that Josie was gone. The girl did as she was instructed and then quickly made her way to yet another one of her boring classes for the day.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“So, I’ve decided that I want my birthday party to have some sort of theme,” MG said as he and Josie were sitting in the classroom, waiting for the literature teacher to arrive.

“What do you have in mind?” Josie asked curiously while smiling at her best friend.

“Not sure yet. But it definitely has to be perverted,” MG stated and searched for ‘pervy parties’ on Google to get some inspiration.

Josie rolled her eyes at her best friend. “Who are you inviting to the party?”

Josie was curious if this year was going to be different than the one before when her best friend had thrown a huge birthday party with hundreds of people. It was more like a rave, but whatever.

“I’ll let Kaleb handle it. He knows people who know people,” MG explained and continued searching the web for pervy shit.

“So it’s gonna be huge again...” Josie sighed and shook her head. “I need to mentally prepare myself.”

MG laughed at what her best friend said. He knew that Josie wasn’t really the type of girl who’d attend wild parties, but his birthday was an exception. Josie had promised years ago that that she’d attend every year no matter what kind of party the boy threw. It was like a best friend agreement that they had. In return, MG wouldn’t drag her to any other parties.

“Maybe you should prepare your body for your gir-” MG was going to say something perverted again, this time about Josie and Hope’s, but the literature teacher began speaking and interrupted him.

“Class, today we will be exploring the amazing world of poetry!” Mr. Ho said to everyone, making everyone groan in frustration, except Josie of course. She absolutely loved poetry and looked at her teacher with anticipation for what’s to come. “Emily Dickinson was a fascinating American poet. She was one of the greatest and most original poets of her time.”

Josie absolutely loved Emily Dickinson because her writing was so different and so passionate. She had always related to it so much and recently figured out that the poet was a lesbian, or that’s what people say at least. There were some speculations about Emily and her best friend Sue. Apparently she had written her some really intimate letters. Josie liked to think that it was all true. She thought that it honestly must have been so hard for Emily to hide who she was and keep her relationship with Sue a secret during those times that the poet had lived in. Josie kinda felt that maybe her and Hope were sort of going through the same thing right now. Even though they were living in the 21 st  century, to Josie it was like it was the 19  th  century with how conservative her and Hope’s parents were.

Josie found herself spacing out in class with all those thoughts of the comparison between Emily and Sue’s relationship with her and Hope’s, so she didn’t really react when the teacher called out her name. MG placed his hand on his best friend’s shoulder, immediately snapping her out of her trance.

“What?” Josie suddenly blurted out, making the whole class laugh at her. The Know-It-All Josie Saltzman caught spacing out during class, what a joke.

“Josie, I asked you if you have any thoughts on the 1st verse of the poem I just read,” Mr. Ho explained and leaned back on his desk.

Josie was ashamed because she hadn’t been listening to him. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“It’s alright. You’re such an exceptional student. It’s no problem for me to read it again.” Mr. Ho gave Josie special treatment because she was one of his favourite students.

_Wild nights - Wild nights!_

_Were I with thee_

_Wild nights should be_

_Our luxury!_

Josie listened intently to the words coming out of her teacher’s mouth and she imagined that it was Hope the one saying them. This was her favourite poem by Emily Dickinson.

“I think that this poem shows the strong passion and desire that Emily Dickinson had deep inside her. It illustrates the passion of two lovers whose desire for each other is so overwhelming. Being with the person you love the most in the world and desperately wanting to hold them, to touch them, to spend your life together with them, can bring you endless joy.” It was like Josie wasn’t talking about the poem anymore, but about her and Hope.

She desperately wanted to be with Hope forever and for them to live a life full of passion, desire and endless joy.

“Very good interpretation, Josie! I knew that I could count on you to enlighten the class,” Mr. Ho told the girl with a smile on his face, making Josie feel really satisfied with her accomplishment at that moment.

After that horrible week that she had, Josie needed to feel good about herself.

* * *

  
  


Josie was alone in her house after school because her parents were gone for a few days. They were on some business trip or something and the girl couldn’t be happier. Her sister was still at school because she had some project or something to finish up. This was the perfect time for Josie to invite her girlfriend over. She quickly pulled out her phone from her pocket and sent Hope a text message.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: Babe, I’m home alone :3 **

  
  


A few seconds later, she received a response back from her girlfriend. _Damn, she’s fast. I love that about her…_

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: Babe, I would love to come and entertain you, but I have to finish my basketball training for today. I still have 50 freethrows to do. I can come by after maybe an hour.**

  
  


Josie frowned when she read the message. An hour was too much time. She wanted her now. The girl was dying to see Hope and spend time with her.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: Hmmm, maybe you need some motivation to finish them more quickly.**

After Josie wrote that, she immediately unbuttoned her shirt and then took an extremely inappropriate and seductive selfie. She was biting her lower lip in the photo and she her left hand was cupping one of her boobs through her bra.

**Hope Mikaelson: …….**

**Josie Saltzman: Is that motivation enough? ;) **

**Hope Mikaelson: I uhm… I… fuck **

  
  


Josie giggled because she knew that she was driving her girlfriend crazy with all the teasing.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: Fuck those freethrows, my dad’s at work anyway… I’ll be at your place in 15 minutes**

**Josie Saltzman: Don’t keep me waiting all hot and bothered for too long, babe…**

  
  


Hope was indeed at Josie’s house 15 minutes later. The moment Josie opened the door, Hope threw her arms around her neck and began kissing her passionately. She closed the door behind them with her foot and then pushed Josie against the corridor wall.

“You can’t wait to fuck me, huh?” Josie said breathlessly as soon as she felt Hope’s lips pull away from her own and move down her body, leaving a wet trail all over her bare skin.

“I desperately want you...” Hope told her girlfriend with an extremely sexy husky voice. She unzipped Josie’s pants and pulled them down quickly along with her panties. The girl then got down on her knees and began leaving kisses along Josie’s thighs, feeling Josie’s whole body shake with anticipation.

“Oh god!” Josie moaned and placed her hand over Hope’s head, trying to direct her to a certain area. “Fuck...” she screamed when she felt Hope’s lips at the place she wanted them most.

It has only been a few minutes and Josie was already wet as fuck, which Hope loved by the way. It was like she was some desperate sex-crazed freak. Okay, maybe she kind of was. Both of them were a bunch of horny teenagers who were driven by their hormones.

Their sexual activities unfortunately had to come to an end, though, because both of them heard someone attempt to put their key inside the lock of the front door.

“Oh shit, are your parents coming home early?” Hope panicked and then quickly pulled away from Josie.

“I don’t know. Quick, go hide,” Josie said and pushed her girlfriend towards the bathroom near them.

Josie then pulled her pants and panties up as quickly as possible, then began buttoning up her shirt, but she was slow as hell. Plus she was panicking so much at that moment, that she could barely do anything right.

While she was still struggling with the first button, the door was opened. A sigh of relief escaped Josie’s mouth when she saw that it was Lizzie.

“What’s going on?” the girl asked her sister curiously. “Why are you changing your shirt in the corridor?”

“Oh uhm, I was going to-” Josie tried explaining but she blocked. She had no idea what she should say to Lizzie.

“Is this some new fetish or something? Are you going to take nudes in the corridor for your girlfriend?” Lizzie suddenly asked her without no shame at all, which in turn made Josie feel extremely embarrassed.

Not a bad story. Josie decided to go with it. “Oh, yeah… Totally! That’s exactly what I was going to do!”

“Crazy pervert!” Lizzie laughed at her, then took her jacket and shoes off. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

After that Lizzie went to her room on, leaving Josie alone in the corridor. When the coast was clear, she opened the door to the bathroom and Hope came out of there.

“Your sister is such a cockblocker...” Hope pouted, which made Josie chuckle. She loved it when Hope pouted. It was so incredibly adorable to her.

“Yeah...” Josie then smiled at Hope sweetly and gave her a peck on the lips so she would stop pouting.

“Should I go? I mean, would it be cool if I stay, even though your sister is home?” Hope really really wanted her girlfriend to tell her to stay because she wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

“Uhm, I think it would be better if we go hide up in my room for a while. It would be suspicious if Lizzie sees you exactly at this moment while I’m supposed to be taking some sexy nudes for you in the corridor,” Josie explained, making Hope laugh. She couldn’t believe that Lizzie was the one that came up with that. Guess the girl wasn’t as innocent as she had thought.

“Alright, it’s a plan,” Hope agreed with her girlfriend.

Both girls then sneaked into Josie’s room with the idea of staying there for about 30 minutes or something. Then afterwards the girl would go tell her sister that Hope was coming over soon. Everything would go well if Lizzie doesn’t just suddenly decide to walk into Josie’s room. In order to avoid that, Josie decided to text her sister, telling her that she will resume the photo session in her room, so she wouldn’t disturb her.

Everything did indeed go according to plan. Josie and Hope spent about 30 minutes in the room, finishing up where they had left off and tried to be as quiet as possible. Afterwards they both took a shower, together and once they were presentable, Josie went to her sister’s room to tell her that Hope was coming over. Then they sneaked back down to the corridor and rung the doorbell on purpose. For once, everything was in their favor. Then the girls went to the kitchen to make themselves something to eat. Sex makes you hungry after all. Then they situated themselves on the couch to watch some TV. Lizzie joined them later and the three of them just hung out together. It was so damn nice and Josie didn’t want that moment to end.

This is how she had imagined her relationship with Hope if things were perfect and they didn’t have to keep each other a secret from their parents. Oh how she wished that things were like that all the time...

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some cute and kinda hot moments for you guys <3 Next chapter is MG's party, so stay tuned for that ;) 
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


	26. Party time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw just a little warning. There's a kind of a small sexual harassment scene.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

To say that MG’s party was wild would be an understatement. There were probably around 200 people there, some from school, others from god knows where.

The whole first floor of the Greasley family’s huge house was like a gaming zone, but everyone wasn’t playing normal games, no. Some people were enjoying strip poker, while others were playing some perverted sex games on the boy’s PlayStation.

The dining room was turned into a nude beer pong tournament arena, where there were teams competing and an audience cheering loudly for either of them to win. The living room was turned into a dance floor. There was a disco ball with its bright colorful lights. The boy had also brought a pole and hired some strippers – male, female or whatever kind of people he could find.

Honestly, there was something for everyone, but the most important thing was that there were a lot of perverted stuff. He had dick balloons everywhere, dick cupcakes and even a dick ice sculpture.

This was probably the wildest party that the boy had thrown ever in his life.

The second floor was reserved for people who’d want to hook up for the night. All of the rooms, except his parents’ bedroom, were available and each had a different sexy theme, so the couples could enjoy role playing.

The moment Josie stepped foot inside her best friend’s house, she felt overwhelmed by the number of people there, especially because most of them were already drunk out of their minds and also naked. That was a super important detail. She made her way to the living room near the dance floor where there was also a bar with a really hot bartender, making cocktails.

Josie had always hated being alone at MG’s birthday parties. She usually ended up being dragged into some weird games and talking with some random people that she barely knew. But this year, she wasn’t going to be alone.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: Hope, the party is so wild. Are you coming soon? <3**

  
  


Josie sent a quick text to her girlfriend. She immediately received a response before she could put her phone back into her pocket.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: I’ll be there in about an hour, babe. I’ll text you when I arrive. :***

Josie had convinced Hope to come to the party as well, so they could at least spend some time together, maybe even possibly enjoy one of the rooms on the 2 nd  floor.

Not long after Josie had arrived at the party, she noticed her best friend at the bar. Of course he was there. That boy lived for alcohol.

“Hey, dude!” Josie said to him and immediately flung her arms around him to give him a hug.

“Dude, you came!” MG yelled in excitement and began jumping while still hugging his best friend. When he finally let go, he handed her a glass with some kind of beverage that Josie didn’t recognize. “Here! Have a drink!”

“What’s that?” the girl immediately asked, making MG smirk.

“It’s my very own personal cocktail! I call it-” MG paused for dramatic effect. “-the Kinky Baller Elixir”

“That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard,” Josie blurted out and MG gasped, pretending to be offended.

He then took the drink back from his best friend’s hand and said, “Then you don’t deserve to drink it!”

“Ugh, fine. I’m sorry. Gimme the drink, man!” Josie apologized and the cocktail was back in her possession again. “Why did you call it the Kinky Baller Elixir?”

“Cuz the olives look like a guy’s nuts, duh!” Josie shook her head at what MG had said. She had to hand it to her best friend. The boy did know how to come up with perverted names.

After about 30 minutes MG dragged Josie to the PlayStation area, so they could watch some people play.

“What game is that?” Josie immediately asked her best friend as she saw some girl on an island with a sword.

“It’s called Valkyrie Drive. You’re basically on an island with a bunch of hot chicks and you have to fight robots and other shit,” MG began explaining the game. “You’re also partnered with another girl, who is your secret weapon, but if you want to use her, you have to get it on with her.”

“Oh...” Josie just said as she watched the guy who was sitting on the couch about to use the super weapon in the game. Immediately some super hot red-headed chick appeared and started kissing the guy’s character. “Wow...”

Josie was getting a bit turned on by this game and just wished that Hope would show up to the party already. She then told her best friend that she needs to go to the bathroom and will be right back. It was a lie. She didn’t have to go to the bathroom. She just needed to get out of there so she could text Hope privately without her best friend eavesdropping on their conversation.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: Babe, I need you. <3**

  
  


She immediately got a response from Hope once again.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: I’ll be there soon, baby. I promise! <3**

  
  


As Josie was just standing there smirking at her phone, her back pressed against the wall near the bathroom, she suddenly saw someone approach her.

“Well, well, what’s a pretty girl like you doing here all alone?” Some guy whose name Josie thought was probably Jod or Jed or whatever, had just spoken to her out of nowhere. Josie recognized him as the captain of the football team. He had never really said a word to her before. But this time, Josie really did look gorgeous. She had her hair done perfectly and she was wearing the most amazing black dress that really showed her beautiful body.

“I’m waiting for someone actually,” Josie told him with a little bit of a bitchy tone in her voice, hoping that the dude would go away and leave her alone.

“Whoever is keeping you waiting is a pretty stupid guy for doing it...” Jed was speaking with such cockiness that it made Josie sick. Did he really think this line was going to work on her? “I’d never make you wait like that, baby”

The guy then slid his hand underneath the girl’s dress and began moving it upwards. Josie immediately tried to pull away, but she was pressed up against the wall by him. He wouldn’t let her escape him that easily.

“Get off!” Josie continued with her attempts to push him away, but he was so strong.

“I know you like it. Don’t try to fight me,” Jed whispered in her ear. Josie was now whimpering in fear because of him. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. “I can show you how pleasurable sex can be when you do it with a real man.”

“Hey! Get the hell away from her!” Josie suddenly heard the familiar voice of her girlfriend.

Hope showed up just in time and pushed the guy away from Josie, making him almost fall back. It’s good that he was drunk at least out of his mind.

“You stupid bitch!” Jed was ready to fight back, but Hope then poured her whole drink in his face, making him groan. She then quickly grabbed her girlfriend’s hand and dragged her out of there. They made their way out of the house and sat down on one of the benches near MG’s pool. Thankfully there wasn’t anyone around them because there was no water inside the swimming pool. The weather was still too cold for that.

Josie immediately wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and buried her face in the crook of her neck. She then began sobbing because the whole experience with that guy was horrible.

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m here, babe…” Hope reassured her and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. “You’re safe.”

“God, if you hadn’t found me. I don’t know what that jerk would’ve done,” Josie said in between sobs, making Hope fume at the thought of some guy having his way with her girlfriend.

“I would’ve killed him afterwards!” Hope stated, her voice filled with so much anger.

Josie tightened her hold on Hope before saying, “How did you find me anyway?”

“I ran into MG when I came to the party. He told me you went to the bathroom and pointed me towards the direction you went.”

“I’m glad you showed up just in time. Thank you!” Josie expressed her gratitude as she pulled her face away from Hope’s neck, then leaned in to give her girlfriend a soft kiss on the lips. “You’re my hero!”

Hope smirked as soon as she heard the words that came out of the other girl’s mouth. “My pleasure!” Afterwards she pulled away to take a good look at her girlfriend. Josie was definitely really easy on the eyes. More than usually at least. Hope couldn’t help but compliment her on her appearance. “You look amazing tonight by the way.”

“Don’t I always look amazing?” Josie teased and took Hope’s hand in her own, intertwining their fingers.

“You do, but tonight you’re even more amazing!”

“Well, I did spend a lot of time picking out the perfect dress to wear for you,” Josie confessed and looked away shyly.

“You don’t really need to dress up for me,” Hope then told her and placed her fingers underneath the girl’s chin, then slowly moved her head so Josie would look at her. “In fact, I prefer you without any clothes on.”

Josie was ready to have her way with Hope right then and there after what she heard her say. God, she sounded so hot. Josie immediately crashed her lips against her girlfriend’s as one of her hands left Hope’s and sneaked up under her shirt, making a slight moan escape her mouth and shiver at the contact.

Both of them enjoyed their make out sessions so much and they just couldn’t get enough of each other. They were trying to catch up as much as possible for the past few days while Josie’s parents were away on that business trip.

Hope’s free hand made its way to Josie’s neck. She caressed the girl’s cheek with her thumb as she deepened their kiss. Josie let out a soft moan when she felt her girlfriend’s tongue asking for entrance. Both of them felt this incredible wave of heat all over their bodies. They felt as if they needed each other more than ever at that moment. Hope’s hand then went a bit down and pulled on the strap of Josie’s dress, dragging her nails along the skin of the girl’s shoulder at the same time.

“Hope...” Josie moaned as the girl began kissing and biting on her neck, then of course going further down to her collarbones. She desperately wanted to leave marks all over Josie’s body, but she refrained herself from doing that. She couldn’t risk Josie’s mother seeing them. “Oh god, Hope...”

“Hope?!”

Hope could swear that she heard her best friend’s voice at that moment, but no, it couldn’t have been her. Josie was the one saying her name. Plus, Penelope wasn’t at the party, right? She would’ve told her.

“Hope, what the hell?’

The voice became louder and this time Hope stopped kissing her girlfriend and turned around to the direction where the voice was coming from. Of course, there she was. Penelope Park was standing behind them with a shocked and a bit pissed off expression on her face.

Penelope was indeed at the party that night and she had seen her best friend making out with a girl. It wasn’t just any girl, though. It was Josie Saltzman. The nerd that Penelope kind of really disliked. She knew that they were friends and hanging out or something, but she had no idea that they were this kind of friends.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Penelope saw them :/ Sorry about the cliffhanger. Next chapter will be the continuation of the party! 
> 
> Thank you all for reading!


	27. Party time again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoyyy! <3

“Penelope...” Hope stared at her best friend with an expression just as shocked as Penelope’s. “What are you doing here?”

Penelope couldn’t believe what she was asking at that moment. Hope was just kissing another girl, or more precisely Josie Saltzman for that matter, and that’s what she had to say?

“You’re seriously asking me that?” Penelope said in disbelief. “There’s no ‘I’m sorry for lying to you, Pen’ or ‘Me and Josie are more than friends, Pen’, huh?”

“She’s my girlfriend,” Hope just told her and stood up from where she had been sitting all this time. “I was going to tell you soon.”

“No, you know what, Hope.” Penelope was now angry as hell. “You’ve been lying to me so much lately. I really can’t deal with this right now.”

The girl then turned around and began walking away, running from confrontation as usual. Hope tried calling out for her to stop and come back, but Penelope wasn’t listening. She had never listened. Her and Hope had never really had a normal fight in all their years of friendship. This moment was no different. She was mad at Hope for lying to her about her relationship with Josie and didn’t want to talk to her at that moment, so she just left.

Penelope didn’t go home that night. Instead, she decided to stay at the party and drown her sorrows with alcohol at the bar and maybe hook up with some hot guy. Everyone was doing it apparently.

“Hope could go to hell for all I care,” the girl muttered under her breath and then began gulping down a glass of vodka.

“What did this Hope person do to you?” Penelope suddenly heard a boy next to her ask.

“She’s my stupid best friend and she lied to me,” the girl explained and then pointed at her drink for the bartender to fill it up again.

“She sounds like a real bitch,” the guy stated, making Penelope laugh. This was the time when she should’ve yelled at him for insulting her best friend, but at that moment, she actually thought that Hope was a huge lying bitch and deserved it.

After a few more drinks, Penelope decided that she’d definitely hook up with this unknown dude. He was really into her as well and not long after, he was leading her to the 2 nd  floor where they’d have hot kinky sex the entire night.

* * *

  
  


Hope knew that she wasn’t going to fight with her best friend, because that’s how it usually was with her and Penelope, but she still tried to get her to talk after she had caught her and Josie making out. She felt a bit relieved, though. Call her a bad friend, but she really wasn’t in the mood for that.

“She’ll come around,” Josie said and hugged her girlfriend from behind. “I’m sure she will.”

Hope sighed as thoughts of her friendship with Penelope ending crossed her mind. “I don’t know, Jo. She was pretty angry.”

“Don’t think about that right now...” Josie whispered in her girlfriend’s ear, making Hope shiver in response. “Let’s go to one of the rooms on the 2nd floor. I hear they are themed.”

Hope smirked as soon as she heard what her girlfriend had said. “You’re into kinky role-play sex, huh?”

“I sure am, Doctor Mikaelson.” Josie purred and moved her hands up Hope’s body. “I think I’m ready for my examination!”

“Well then, let’s go get you checked up. I have lots of tools that we can use,” Hope said seductively and then grabbed her girlfriend’s hand before leading her back into the house.

As the couple were making their way to the 2 nd  floor for some hot role-play activities, they were unfortunately stopped in their tracks by a very drunk MG.

“There’s my OTP!” he yelled out and flung his arms around both of them at the same time.

“MG, you’re wasted!” Josie said as soon as she sniffed the stench of alcohol coming from her best friend. “You’ve had enough!”

The girl then pulled the glass that MG was holding away from him.

“No! Give it!” MG tried taking it back but Josie was pushing him away with her free hand and kept the liquid that her best friend desired out of his reach.

Josie then felt someone take the drink from her hand but it wasn’t MG. It was Kaleb who had just showed up at the party. They saw the boy immediately gulp down the whole contents of that glass like it was water and smile widely.

“Miss me, guys?” Kaleb asked them both and winked.

“Oh my god, you’re finally here!” MG yelled out in excitement. “Finally, this party can start! My bro is here!”

“I even brought something special, just for your party!”

Josie rolled her eyes at what Kaleb had said, receiving a confused look from Hope who wasn’t really used to the three’s dynamic because she hadn’t really seen Josie interact with them up until now.

Josie knew that this thing that Kaleb brought was probably bad news. This was Kaleb they were talking about. _It’s probably drugs or something… _

Kaleb then opened up a huge sack that he had apparently brought with him and a bunch of little kittens came running out of it.

“Oh my god, cats?!” Josie said in disbelief, making Hope chuckle. Kaleb had a very satisfied expression on his face and MG was now on the ground, grabbing the little kittens one by one so he could play with them.

“They are so cute!” MG yelled out and Kaleb just replied with a nod.

Josie thought that it was extremely weird that Kaleb would bring kittens to a party. She couldn’t believe her eyes. This was the last thing she was expecting to see. She would’ve been fine if the boy had brought drugs because it would seem more normal, but kittens, really?

“Why the hell would you bring kittens to a party?” Josie suddenly asked, making Kaleb laugh.

“First of all, kittens are life!” the boy stated and placed his arm around Josie’s shoulders. “Second, this party has dick balloons, dick cupcakes, a fucking dick ice sculpture. It needs some damn pussy action, man.”

Hope began laughing loudly as soon as she heard the boy say that while Josie just shook her head in disbelief. Leave it to Kaleb to say something crazy. That guy was full of surprises.

* * *

  
  


The aftermath of the party wasn’t so bad. Well, okay maybe it was, but MG hired some cleaning company to deal with the whole shit. He wasn’t gonna clean up himself. He was way too rich for that, plus he had a major hangover because he was drinking so much.

Josie and Hope had a great time at the party, even though there was that moment with Penelope and the fact that they didn’t reach the 2 nd  floor. They ended up being dragged to the beer pong tournament with Kaleb and MG. They won by the way since they had basketball star Hope Mikaelson on their team.

Everything was great for the next couple of days as well, unless you count the fact that Penelope and Hope still hadn’t talked and Josie’s parents who came back home from the business trip and ruined any chance of Hope coming over to the house.

Josie came back home from school at around 6 PM one day and noticed something really strange when she walked inside her house. There were glass shards all over the corridor, leading towards the dining room. The girl was careful not to step on anything as she entered the room to see what was going on.

When she walked inside she noticed her mother sitting at the table, with a bottle of wine in her hand and about five or six bottles more next to her, gulping down the liquid like it was second nature to her.

“Mom, what’s going on?” Josie gasped at the horrible sight in front of her.

“I caught your bastard of a father cheating on me today,” Caroline told her daughter, slurring her words a bit as she held one of the bottles tightly.

Josie wasn’t surprised that her father was cheating. She was already a hundred percent sure that he was when he would come home really late almost every night. Now she got her confirmation from her mother. _Karma’s a bitch… _Josie thought as she eyed her mother who continued drowning herself with alcohol. She deserved it in Josie’s opinion, after all the horrible things she’s done to ruin her happiness with Hope and after all the other shit she had put her through throughout the years.

“How did you find out?” Josie asked, making her mother laugh like a maniac.

“I went to bring your father lunch at the office and walked in on him and his 20-year-old secretary,” Caroline yelled out and then threw the bottle she was holding at the wall. “She was giving him a damn blowjob...”

Josie tried to contain a laugh because she knew that the situation wasn’t funny but she couldn’t help but imagine her mother’s face at that moment. It was like a scene from a movie. She then moved closer to her mother and tried to take the bottles away from her.

“You’ve had enough.”

Caroline didn’t say anything. She just began sobbing and feeling sorry for herself. The older woman kept thinking about how humiliated she was. How could she let a man do that to her?

Josie knew that her mother didn’t deserve her sympathy but at that moment, the girl kinda felt a bit bad for her. Even though her mother was a huge bitch and Josie thought that she deserved everything that she got, she still felt sympathetic towards her.

The girl led her mother towards the bedroom and made her lie down on the bed. She really didn’t know what else to do honestly. Her mother just needed to get some rest because she seemed awfully tired.

Josie then put a blanket over her mother and afterwards turned the light off. The girl made her way out of the room and decided that it was time to call her father, just to check up on him.

“Dad, where are you?” Josie asked her father, but her voice wasn’t angry or anything of that sort. For some reason she really didn’t care that he was cheating on her mother. Maybe she had just come to terms with that a long time ago.

“Josie, I’m not coming home tonight,” Alaric replied to his daughter from the other line.

“Are you staying with your secretary?” Josie chuckled, making her father feel embarrassed that his daughter knew about him hooking up with the secretary.

“Uhh, no… Alyssa has some work to attend to. I will stay alone at my loft tonight,” Alaric cleared his throat and explained to her. Then things got silent for a bit before he began speaking again. “Do you hate me?”

Josie thought about what her father had asked and knew that she should hate him for hurting her mother by cheating. She didn’t really approve of being unfaithful to the person you’re with, but only when it came to herself and her own relationship. She would never cheat, but she didn’t care if someone else was doing it. It’s their life and they could do whatever they want.

“No, I don’t care that you’re cheating on mom,” she told her father over the phone. “I’m was just wondering where you’ll be sleeping tonight. I knew that there was no way you’d come home. With mom in this state, she’d end up killing you in your sleep or something.”

Alaric was relieved that Josie was fine with all of this. He smiled widely and wished that he could hug his daughter at that moment.

“Thank you, Josie,” the man expressed his gratitude. “By the way, I have no problem with you dating a girl.”

Josie couldn’t believe what her father had just said and it took her a moment to process his words.

“Really?” she replied with so much happiness in her voice that it made her father’s smile become even wider.

“I just want you to be happy, sweetheart...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so... that happened :D I kinda feel bad for Caroline, but shit happens... Oh and you're gonna have to wait a little more for Penelope and Hope to talk.. :D
> 
> Thanks for reading, guys! <3 You're awesome!


	28. Next stage - anger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoyyy, guys! <3

“Your father and I are getting a divorce,” Caroline told both her daughters while they were having dinner. It’s been a week since she caught her husband cheating on her. Throughout it she was thinking a lot, if they could maybe put this behind them for the sake of their family’s reputation and for their daughters, but ultimately, Caroline decided that she could never forgive him for doing such a terrible thing. It was too much of a humiliation.

“I think you’re making the right choice, mom,” Lizzie agreed with her mother. “Dad is a cheating scumbag who deserves to lose everything.”

Josie rolled her eyes as soon as she heard what her sister had said. She had no problem with her father cheating, because it was his life. He could do whatever he wanted, but Lizzie wasn’t like her. She tended to go overboard. 

“I think you’re being too harsh on him,” Josie said to her sister who looked at her in disbelief because the younger girl couldn’t understand how someone would be okay with something like cheating.

“Too harsh? He cheated on mom with his secretary...” 

Lizzie was on their mother’s side. Even though Caroline had made her life hell just as much as Josie’s over the years, the girl hated cheating more and thought that even a witch like her mother didn’t deserve that.

“It’s not the end of the world. Couples at their age cheat on each other all the time,” Josie defended her father in front her sister and mother.”I mean, I don’t approve of it and would never do it myself, but like, it happens. It’s nothing to be surprised about and I don’t see why we should direct so much hate towards dad. They’ll just get the damn divorce and move on with their lives.”

Caroline had stood silent while her daughters argued, having no strength to participate in the argument at all. Ever since she caught her husband cheating, it was like she wasn’t in her right mind. She was spacing out. Her head was just somewhere else, thinking about everything she had ever done in her life, all her accomplishments. She wondered what she ever did wrong. She must have, or else her husband wouldn’t have cheated on her.

“Josie, I don’t agree with you. You’re making this out like it’s not a big deal, but it actually is,” Lizzie continued arguing with her sister, making Josie frustrated. They could end up fighting for hours at this rate because neither of them would back down and be the bigger person.

“Well, it’s not a big deal to me.”

“Please, stop fighting, girls,” Caroline finally spoke, silencing both of them. “Could you just both go to your rooms? I have a migraine and don’t want to listen to this anymore.”

Both girls then just stood up without saying anything and went to their respective rooms. Josie loved her sister dearly, but sometimes they just couldn’t agree on anything. They had such different opinions on certain topics. Maybe the only thing they had ever agreed on was about Josie and Hope’s relationship.

Caroline took some medicine for her head and went to bed early that night. Her daughters, though, they couldn’t sleep after that fight. It wasn’t long before Josie heard a knock on her door. 

“Come in,” the girl said and immediately saw her sister walk inside her room, closing the door behind her as she entered. 

“Hey...” Lizzie said as she made her way to Josie’s bed and motioned for her to move so she could get under the covers. 

Josie immediately did it and then smiled as her sister got on the bed next to her. It made her reminisce about the time they were little kids and Lizzie would come into her room late at night after they were fighting about something during the day. She hadn’t done it in years. Josie thought her sister grew out of this habit but maybe the disagreements they had weren’t serious enough. Who knows? But now that they found out her father had cheated, Josie thought that it probably unlocked something within Lizzie, some emotion that she hid deep down and the girl just needed her now more than ever. 

“Can’t sleep?” Josie asked and put an arm around her sister who rested her head on her shoulder.

Lizzie sighed loudly and closed her eyes. “I feel really bad...”

“It’ll be okay, don’t worry,” Josie reassured her and then kissed the top of the girl’s head. “Everything will be okay...” 

“How do you know?” Lizzie asked without opening her eyes. She just let herself relax in Josie’s arms.

“Because I’m your sister. It’s my job to make things better.” 

Josie’s words made Lizzie smile. She then opened her eyes and looked at her sister before saying, “Thank you! I love you so much and I’m sorry for arguing with you. You have a right to your own opinion.”

“I love you too, Liz. We’ll get through this together!”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Alaric took the last of his things from the house a couple of days later and had officially moved into his loft. Caroline moved past the whole disbelief phase and was now angry at the world most of the time. She was fighting with Josie and Lizzie about the smallest things even more than before.

“Josie, how many times have I told you not to leave your textbooks on the kitchen counter. You’re going to damage them!” Caroline yelled at her daughter. “Do you know how embarrassing it would be for your teachers to see theirs star student with damaged textbooks! They would think that you don’t care enough about your studies!”

The whole argument was utterly stupid, but Caroline just had to find something to fight with her daughter about, even if it was the most idiotic thing in the world.

“It’s not a big deal, mother!” Josie yelled back and took her textbooks then demonstrated to her mother that they were fine. “See! There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re not damaged.” 

“You just got lucky!” Caroline fired back. “We’ll see next time when you damage them and your teachers are disappointed in you!”

“You’re being stupid, mother!” Josie finally had enough of her mom’s bullshit. 

Caroline got even angrier because her daughter dared to insult her by calling her stupid. She moved closer to her and Josie thought that she was about to slap her, but her mother didn’t lay a finger on her. She just said, “Well if I’m so stupid, go live with your fucking father then. If you can’t stand me so much!”

“Maybe I will.”

After saying that, Josie got out of the kitchen, leaving her mother standing there. Caroline didn’t say anything and just saw her daughter get out of the room. 

Josie ran inside her bedroom and slammed the door behind her, angry because of the confrontation with her mother. 

“Deep breaths, Josie” the girl uttered under her breath and tried to relax. She had her back pressed against the door and just fell down to her knees. “Deep breaths!”

**Josie Saltzman: Babe… :(**

Josie pulled out her phone and immediately texted her girlfriend. She didn’t have to wait long because she received a reply within the next few seconds.

**Hope Mikaelson: What’s wrong, baby?**

**Josie Saltzman: I had the most stupid fight with my mother. I can’t fucking stand her. She even told me to go live with my father.**

**Hope Mikaelson: I’m sorry… That witch is horrible. **

**Hope Mikaelson: Are you gonna go?**

**Hope Mikaelson: Live with your father, I mean?**

**Josie Saltzman: I don’t know. It probably won’t be such a bad idea. Plus, he’s fine with my relationship with you. **

**Josie Saltzman: It wouldn’t be so bad for me to be at a place where I can be myself… **

  
  


Josie at that moment really thought about the possibilities of living with her father. It really wouldn’t be so bad. Honestly, it would be so much better than living with her mother. They wouldn’t fight all the time and he couldn’t be all up her ass about school work. Her father is way too laid back and doesn’t really care that much. Plus, it would give them a chance to mend their relationship. They were never really close and barely talked because he would work so much, so this would be a chance for them to develop some kind of father-daughter relationship. 

**Josie Saltzman: I’m going to do it. I’m going to live with him. I just hope he has room in his loft for me…**

**Hope Mikaelson: What if he decides to live with that secretary? :/**

**Josie Saltzman: I doubt it. I don’t think their relationship is that serious. I think they’re just hooking up. :D**

After that Josie told Hope that she’s decided to give her father a call, just to be sure if he’s up for her going to live with him. A minute later she was on the phone with him.

“Hey, sweatheart! What’s up?” Josie heard her father’s happy voice from the other line.

“Hey, dad. Uhm, can I talk to you about something important?” the girl said a bit worriedly. She was scared if her father would say no to her living with him. What if he wanted to live alone? What if Hope was right and his relationship with the secretary was actually serious and they were going to live together?

“Of course. You can talk to me about anything!” 

“Can I come live with you? I can’t stay in this house anymore, dad...” Josie said, her voice cracking a little. It felt like she was going to cry soon. “Mom is being so unbearable.”

“Well, if that’s what you want, then sure. You can come live with me, but keep in mind that the loft isn’t as big as the house. You won’t have your own bathroom and the room you’ll be in will be twice smaller,” Alaric explained, but Josie didn’t hear anything past the first sentence. She felt happy and relieved that her father would let her stay with him, which surprised her. She didn’t know that she’d feel this happy as soon as she heard his words. 

“Thank you, dad! I can’t wait!” Josie beamed and immediately stood up from the floor she had been sitting on all this time. “This is going to be so amazing!” 

“I’m happy too, sweatheart. But is your mother okay with this? I don’t want to cause her anymore trouble...” Alaric was actually a bit concerned about his wife. He brought her a lot of pain and really didn’t want to hurt her more than he already has. 

“Yeah, she’s fine with it. In fact, it was actually her idea.” 

Alaric was surprised to hear about the fact that his wife had suggested for Josie to live with him. He honestly didn’t expect it because Caroline liked to control every aspect of her daughters’ lives so the fact that she’s letting Josie go, giving up that control, was really surprising. This is one of the reasons why Alaric cheated on her in the first place – her controlling personality, because he was tired of the woman telling him what to do all the time as well. He needed to escape and he found that escape somewhere else. 

His secretary Alyssa was wild, she made him feel like he was 20 years younger and he had so much fun with her. He could let lose. No wonder he cheated on his wife with her. 

“Okay then, darling. You can come to my loft whenever you want. Love you!” 

Josie smiled when she heard her father say that he loves her. She said it back and then they both hung up. For the first time in weeks, Josie felt like things were finally turning in her direction, that everything was going to get better. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was kinda obvious that Josie would move in with Alaric... :D hahah :D The angst is not entirely over, though. There's a bit more coming up soon... :D Thank you all for reading and commenting!


	29. Spaghetti with lots of sauce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! ^-^

“Owner of C&A steps down from position at the company following sex scandal,” Josie read out loud from the TV screen before immediately switching to another channel. Sadly, there was no escape, people were talking about her father on there as well.

The news about him cheating were absolutely everywhere - on TV, in the paper, online on all social media platforms. It was the hottest topic at that moment.

The stakeholders of C&A had demanded that he stepped down as owner because this scandal he was involved in would jeopardize the reputation of the company severely. He had no choice but to agree. This left the company in the hands of Caroline. Of course, the first thing the woman did when she was appointed as owner, was to fire the assistant her husband cheated on her with.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Everything will be fine,” Alaric told his daughter and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder because he saw how worried she was.

“How? You just lost your source of income...”

“The company wasn’t my only source of income, Josie,” Alaric explained and smiled at the girl. “Don’t worry about it.”

The man had a few side businesses that he was running that nobody knew about. Of course, like any billionaire, he was engaged in some illegal activity, but it wasn’t anything that he had to worry about. He hadn’t been caught all those years, so they weren’t about to catch him now.

Josie felt relieved when she heard her father’s reassuring words and continued making dinner for both of them. A few days had passed since she moved in and things had been great. The two had spent some time together and they were definitely bonding.

“Would you like more or less sauce on your spaghetti, dad?” Josie asked with a smile.

Alaric smiled back and immediately said, “More sauce, please.”

“Great! I like mine the same way...”

“Well, I guess you get that from me,” Alaric laughed, making Josie’s smile even wider. When the laughter died down, he spoke again, “So how are things going with you and Hope?”

“Everything is great so far. Now that I live with you, we have a place where we can see each other without worrying that someone’s going to catch us,” Josie explained as she was stirring the spaghetti she was preparing.

“That’s great. I’m sorry about not defending you in front of your mother before,” Alaric apologized to his daughter, the guilt tearing him up from the inside because he felt like he probably could’ve done more. “I couldn’t stand up to her at the time.”

“It’s okay. I understand. You had to do what you felt was best for you.”

Josie couldn’t blame her father for anything. She knew where he was coming from and how his relationship with her mother was. She had so much control over him, no wonder he couldn’t say anything back.

“How did I deserve such an amazing daughter like you?” Alaric felt so proud of Josie at that moment. It was like he was the happiest father alive. He couldn’t ask for a better daughter.

“I could say the same. You’re a wonderful father.” Josie’s words made tears form in Alaric’s eyes. “Let’s eat now! The spaghetti is ready.”

Josie then put food in two plates - one for her father and one for herself, and then poured a lot of sauce over them, just the way both of them liked it.

“Let’s dig in!”

  
  


* * *

  
  


After dinner, Josie spent some more time with her father watching TV, before she decided to head to her new room and do some of her homework. Now that she didn’t have her mother to pressure her all the time, she could calmly focus on her studies.

The girl opened her History textbook to a page that she had bookmarked in class. They were supposed to study about World War II. Josie already knew what had happened during that time, so she decided to read some additional materials on the subject that were in the textbook.

As few minutes later, her studying was interrupted by a buzzing sound coming from next to her. She then noticed her phone’s screen light up and a notification appear. Her girlfriend had texted her.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: Babe, what are you doing? <3**

  
  


Josie immediately smiled. It always seemed to happen when Hope texted her.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: I was reading some stuff for my History class. :D What about you?**

**Hope Mikaelson: I was thinking about you. I really miss you, babe…**

  
  


Josie shook her head as soon as she read what Hope had texted. They had seen each other every day since Josie moved out and it was like they couldn’t get enough of spending time together.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: But we just saw each other 2 hours ago… **

**Hope Mikaelson: I know, but I still miss you. :( **

**Josie Saltzman: You’re so adorable, do you know that? <3**

**Hope Mikaelson: This is why you love me ;* **

**Josie Saltzman: Yeah <3 **

**Hope Mikaelson: Do you want to know what else I miss? :3**

**Josie Saltzman: And what might that be?**

  
Josie knew what would follow after her girlfriend would send the ‘:3’ emoji. Hope was obviously very horny at that moment and was in the mood for some sexting.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: I miss your hands all over my body and your fingers inside of me… <3**

**Josie Saltzman: Hope… **

  
  


Josie really needed to get her studying done, though. As much as she wanted to continued this, she needed to tell Hope to stop.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: I wish you were right here with me right now, so I can gently kiss every inch of your body...**

**Josie Saltzman: Hope… As much as I want to continue this, I really need to study. I have to finish my history reading and then write an essay for my Literature class. :(**

  
  


Josie knew that Hope would feel disappointed that they’re not going to continued this, but right now, studying was more important. Sexting can definitely wait.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: I feel like studying is more important than me…**

  
  


There it was. Exactly as Josie had expected. Hope was disappointed and began thinking stupid shit.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: You know that you’re always the most important, babe, but right now. I really need to study. I think you can handle one night without sexting…**

**Hope Mikaelson: Fine… -_-**

**Josie Saltzman: Don’t be like that. I will make it up to you, I promise…**

**Hope Mikaelson: Yeah, I’ll feel better when one day you burn your textbooks in front of me so I don’t have to worry about you choosing them over me…**

**Josie Saltzman: Are you serious right now? Stop talking stupid shit, Hope…**

  
  


Josie was definitely a bit pissed off now because of the stuff that her girlfriend was saying. She hated how Hope was super sensitive sometimes and how one sentence could easily change her mood.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: Right, that’s me… A stupid jock who says stupid things, right? Just say it. That’s what you think of me…**

**Josie Saltzman: It’s not… I know that you’re not stupid but sometimes you can say some really dumb shit. It’s like you’re not even thinking…**

**Hope Mikaelson: Well go fuck yourself then, Josie… **

  
  


After sending that last text message, Josie noticed that Hope had apparently logged off because it said on her profile that it had been a minute since she was last active. Still, Josie decided to spam her with messages.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: Seriously, Hope…**

**Josie Saltzman: You’re being such a brat right now! -_-**

**Josie Saltzman: What? You’re just gonna ignore me? Is that it?**

**Josie Saltzman: Well fine then, if you’re gonna ignore me, then don’t text me…**

**Josie Saltzman: I don’t fucking care >.> **

**Josie Saltzman: I’m not gonna come see you tomorrow during lunch if this is how you’re going to act.**

**Josie Saltzman: So immature…**

**Josie Saltzman: I’m done here! -_-**

  
  


After sending that series of messages, Josie put her phone on silent and decided to just focus on her studying. Honestly, though, she couldn’t think of anything other than her fight with Hope. She couldn’t concentrate at all on history and kept reading the same sentence about 10 times.

“This is so stupid...” Josie muttered under her breath and then closed her history book. “Maybe I should try writing the essay...”

She had no luck with the essay either. Josie really tried but it was like her muse was gone. When she and Hope were fighting, it was like she couldn’t do anything. She would just feel numb and could just do nothing for hours and hours, which wasn’t a good thing. She really wanted to channel her emotions into something productive, but she couldn’t.

About an hour later, Josie decided look at her phone again, hoping that Hope had maybe texted her to apologize. As soon as she unlocked it, she saw a really large text message from none other than her girlfriend.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: Josie, you never put yourself in my shoes. You just say things without thinking about how they might affect me. Things that don’t seem a big deal to you are a big deal to me and when you tell me that I’m saying dumb shit, it actually hurts my feelings. I think you don’t realize that at all. It sucks because I feel like you don’t consider my feelings enough. Is it so bad that I miss you and I want attention? Why do you have to make me feel completely stupid for feeling like that. I know that you have to study, but you’re like the perfect student. You always have perfect grades. I don’t see why it’s so bad if you don’t do your homework just this once. Whatever, obviously studying is more important to you and obviously you don’t really care about how I feel…**

  
  


Josie rolled her eyes as soon as she read the whole message. Hope was being such a drama queen and way too emotional.

  
**Josie Saltzman: Look, I’m sorry but… I’m not going to jeopardize my perfect school record just because you’re so desperate for my attention.**

**Hope Mikaelson: Right, okay then… **

Josie ignored most of the things that Hope had said in that large text message. She didn’t feel like writing a big one herself because then Hope would reply with another one and it would just be so frustrating. She wanted to spare herself that.

Josie decided not to look at her phone again after that and tried to write her essay. She managed to write like 700 words which wasn’t bad, but the essay wasn’t her best work. The girl definitely could’ve done better.

Once she was finished with everything, she went to the bathroom to do her nightly routine and then went to bed. Before she fell asleep, she decided to scroll through Facebook for a little while.

As she was looking through her news feed, she got another message from Hope.

**Hope Mikaelson: I’m sorry. I was out of line…**

Josie sighed as soon as she read that. She wasn’t mad at Hope anymore. She can’t really stay mad at people for a long time, so she decided that she’d accept her apology.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: You’re lucky that I can’t stay mad at you for long… ;* **

**Hope Mikaelson: YAY! <3 I love you so so so so so much, babe! I love you to the end of the earth and back! <3**

Josie chuckled as soon as she read that. Her girlfriend could be so goofy sometimes.

**Josie Saltzman: I love you too, baby <3 **

**Josie Saltzman: Are you still horny btw? :3 **

Josie was kind of in the mood for some sexting now. She remembered the things that Hope had written her about how she wants to feel her hands all over her body. Yeah, something like that. It made her feel all hot and bothered.

**Hope Mikaelson: For you, always! <3**

After Josie read that, a smirk appeared on her face. Both girls then decided to spend the next hour or so sending really hot and perverted messages about what they would do to each other. Sexting was definitely one of their favourite activities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved Josie and Alaric bonding <3 They deserved some father-daughter time...


	30. Best friends always stick together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update, guys! Enjoy! <3

A week and a half had passed since MG’s party and Hope still hadn’t spoken to her best friend. They saw each other at school, but Penelope would barely look at her. They didn’t take their usual seats in the back and they passed each other in the hallway. 

It had always been like this every time they fought about something. They would end up ignoring each other until one of them decided to be the bigger person and reach out.

Usually it was Penelope because Hope was way too stubborn, but this time, she had a certain someone convince her to reach out. Josie had told her that they needed to talk it out, that Hope needed to put effort and fight for their friendship.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: Call her, Hope. I can see that you miss hanging out with her and this situation is making you miserable. You need your best friend… **

  
  


Hope read the text message that her girlfriend had sent her as she was sitting on the couch inside her living room. Hope knew that her girlfriend was right. She knew that she had lied to Penelope about so many things and that what she did was wrong. It was normal for her best friend to react this way. Hope was certain that she had to be the first to apologize but her damn stubbornness was getting in the way. Penelope deserved so much better than a best friend like her.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: I can’t…**

**Josie Saltzman: Yes, you can. Hope, please, trust me. It’s been a week and a half. You guys need to talk…**

  
  


Hope felt ashamed for getting caught in her lies. She knew that he should’ve told her best friend of all people. But she was so scared of her reaction, especially she witnessed how her parents acted when they found out about her relationship with Josie. She was afraid that Penelope would hate her. 

In the end Josie did manage to convince her, after about an hour of texting. Hope decided that she would call her best friend. 

“I was wondering when you’d decide to call me...” Hope heard Penelope say from the other end of the line as soon as the girl had picked up the phone.

“Hey, Pen...” Hope said and then paused, waiting for Penelope to say something else but she didn’t. Then Hope decided to speak again,”I wasn’t sure if you’d want to talk to me.”

“Now why would I possibly not want to speak to my idiot best friend?” Hope could hear Penelope laugh from the other end of the line. “Oh wait, I know! It’s because she’s been lying to me for weeks about god knows how many things...”

“Can you please just come over to my house so we can talk in person?” Hope then asked and she heard a loud sigh come from the other end of the line.

“You’re such an idiot,” Penelope told her and Hope at that moment began thinking how her best friend would just hang up and not want to speak to her ever again. But she didn’t. “You’re still my best friend, though. I’m glad that you finally reached out first this time. I’ll be at your house in 15 minutes.”

Hope felt relieved as soon as she heard the other girl’s words. She was about to say something, but she heard the line go dead, so she just decided to wait for Penelope to show up. 

Just as Penelope had said, she came to the house after 15 minutes and both girls were finally ready to talk. They were sitting on the couch in the living room and looking at each other. 

“So...” Penelope began since Hope wasn’t saying anything. “Are you just gonna stare at me, Hope?”

Hope looked away, a bit embarrassed. “I don’t know where to start.” 

“Maybe start with why you didn’t tell me the whole story,” Penelope gave her a suggestion. “That time when you said that you were hanging out with Josie, you could’ve said that you two were together...”

A sigh escaped Hope’s mouth and she ran her hands through her hair. “I was scared of your reaction.”

“Why? Do you really think that I would’ve hated you for being gay? I thought you knew me better than that, Hope...”

“After the reaction I got from my parents and all hell broke loose, I just… I was so scared of saying anything,” Hope explained, her voice shaking. She remembered how much her father had yelled that night when he found out about her relationship with Josie. God, he was so angry that sometimes Hope would have nightmares about the whole situation.

“Was that why you were grounded? Because your parents found out?” Penelope was surprised. She thought that the reason her best friend was grounded that time was because of something related to basketball. She never really expected that this was the actual reason.

“Yes...” Hope uttered as she felt tears begin to form in her eyes. She didn’t want to cry, so she tried to hold herself back. “First Josie’s mother caught us making out in her room and forbid us from seeing each other, then a few days later she found out again and called my parents. Both of them were furious. It was so scary, Pen.”

Hope had started crying as she spoke and her whole body was shaking which immediately prompted Penelope to pull her best friend in her arms.

“That’s so horrible. I’m sorry that you had to go through that,” Penelope just said and gently moved her hand over her best friend’s back in an attempt to reassure her.

“That’s why I didn’t tell you. You have no idea how terrified I was. I didn’t want you to end up telling me that I was disgusting and horrible for dating a girl.” Hope rested her head on her best friend’s shoulder and began sobbing. 

“I could never think of you that way. I love you, Hope. No matter what! I don’t care whether you’re dating a girl. I just want you to be happy.” Penelope placed a short kiss on the top of her best friend’s head in an attempt to show her that everything would be okay. “I don’t know what you see in a nerdy girl like Josie, but I guess we all have a type, huh?”

Penelope’s words made Hope laugh. Finally, she got a laugh out of her best friend. 

“Honestly, it just kind of happened. I never really imagined myself being with someone like Josie, but after we started working on that Economics project thing together and I got closer to her, I just sort of developed these feelings for her,” Hope explained to her best friend how she felt about Josie. “It was so weird. The thought of seeing a girl in a romantic way had never really crossed my mind, not until I met Josie. She’s just so breathtakingly beautiful and so smart. She makes me laugh, she’s so fun to be around. She just makes me a better person.”

Penelope listened to her best friend share her deep feelings for Josie Saltzman and she knew how madly in love Hope was with that girl. The way she talked about her was like what you would see in those cheesy romantic teen movies. It was so adorable and it made Penelope smile. She was glad that her best friend had found love. 

“You really love her so much,” Penelope then said as soon as Hope stopped speaking. 

“It’s that obvious, huh?” Hope laughed and pulled her head away from her best friend’s shoulder. They were not looking straight at each other again.

“No shit, man!” Penelope said loudly and she began laughing as well. “It’s like you worship her.”

“I kinda sorta maybe possibly do...”

“God, you’re so whipped.” Penelope playfully slapped her best friend’s shoulder. “The next thing you’re gonna tell me is that she’s a beast in bed...”

“Uhmmm...” Hope felt her cheeks instantly become red because she felt embarrassed due to Penelope’s comment.

“Oh my god!” Penelope exclaimed and covered her mouth with her hand. “I want all the details! Now!” 

“Well, I don’t really have anyone to compare her too. She’s the only person I’ve ever been with, but she makes me feel things that I never thought were possible,” Hope began explaining. “She drives me crazy in so many different ways with every touch and every kiss. While we have sex, it’s like I’m on cloud nine. I’ve never felt such an incredible amount of pleasure.” 

“Wow, Hope. You should write some sort of novel with something. The way you talk about that girl makes me feel like I’m reading some book,” Penelope told her best friend, making Hope laugh yet again. 

“Yeah, right. Have you ever heard of a jock become a writer? Do you hear yourself?” Hope believed that her best friend’s idea was preposterous. I mean, she was so bad at literature. She had such low grades in that class. There’s no way she could actually write a novel.

“I’m joking, relax.” Penelope placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder and smiled at her sweetly. “Seriously, though. The things you said about her are wonderful. I’m so happy for you, Hope. I’m glad that you found a person who you love and who loves you back. I hope that you and Josie can be truly happy someday. Oh and when you decide to get married. I definitely want to be the pope and officiate your wedding!”

Hope laughed at the idea of Penelope being the pope at her wedding. The girl would definitely look so funny with a robe on. 

“Okay, okay. When me and Josie get married, you can definitely be-”

“A wedding?” Hope’s words were suddenly interrupted by the angry voice of her mother who had just entered the living room. “What in god’s name are you talking about, Hope?!” Hayley yelled at her daughter. 

She had just come home from the hair salon, probably having yet another gossip session with her rich friends, and had overheard her daughter’s conversation with her best friend. 

“Mom, it was just-” Hope tried to say something, but her mother cut her off again.

“I thought me and your father forbade you to see that girl and now I find out that you two are still together and are planning on getting married?!” Hayley was furious at her daughter.

“No, it’s not like that!” Hope yelled back.

“Wait till your father hears about this!” Hayley snapped and Hope immediately felt her whole body shake with fear. 

Penelope took her best friend’s hand for reassurance and then decided to defend her. “Would you just give Hope a break?! She’s under a lot of stress because of you and your psycho husband. She doesn’t need you to traumatize her even more!”

“Oh so you’re going to tell me how to discipline my daughter, is that it? A 16-year-old girl is going to give me parenting advice?” Hayley laughed because she couldn’t believe the nerve of this teenage girl. How dare she even spoke back at her? Didn’t she know who she was dealing with?

“Well, if I ever have a daughter, I would want her to be happy and let her date whoever she likes. I would want her to be herself!” Penelope yelled at Hope’s mother, making both her best friend and the older woman look at her in shock. “What kind of mother are you? How dare you treat your daughter as if she’s an abomination just because she’s dating a girl! We live in the fucking 21st century. Get it through your thick skull that this is normal.”

Hayley didn’t know what to reply to that, so she just stood silent. 

“Penelope...” Hope just uttered, but her best friend silenced her immediately. 

“Hope, I want you to come live at my house. You can be yourself there. I don’t want you staying here with these monsters.” Penelope then stood up without letting go of her best friend’s hand and began walking towards the door. Hope followed closely behind her without saying anything.

“Hope, if you walk out of this house, don’t even think about coming back!” Hayley told her daughter, her voice shaking in panic. She didn’t want her daughter to leave. No parent wants that. But she didn’t know what else to do. She had to threaten her. She hoped that Hope loved her family enough to get scared of losing them.

At that moment Hope stopped walking and let go of Penelope’s hand. She turned to her mother and looked her her straight in the eyes before saying, “You and dad can both go to hell. I’m not coming back here again.”

With that Hope and Penelope got out of the Mikaelson family’s house, leaving Hayley in the middle of the living room devastated.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Penelope finally made up! <3 YAY! BTW, more drama's coming up in the next chapter... :D Stay tuned! <3 
> 
> Thank you all for reading and commenting! ^-^


	31. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brace yourselves for some more drama, guys! :D 
> 
> Enjoyyy! <3

Both girls made it to Penelope’s house after 15 minutes and Hope felt as if her head was going to explode because of everything that happened. She had never run away like that before. It honestly felt good, really really good. For the first time, Hope felt like she could be herself. 

“You okay?” Penelope suddenly asked, snapping Hope out of her trance. 

“I think so, yeah...” 

“I meant what I said, by the way. You can stay here as long as you want,” Penelope reassured her best friend, making a wide smile immediately form on Hope’s face. Without saying anything, Hope just moved closer and gave the other girl the tightest hug she possibly could. 

“Penelope, I’m home!” Both girls suddenly heard the voice of Penelope’s mother coming from the corridor. A moment later the woman entered the living room where her daughter and her best friend were.

“Hey, mom!” Penelope smiled widely at her mother. 

“Oh, Hope. I didn’t know you were coming for a visit,” Mrs. Park said in surprise immediately pulled the girl in for a warm embrace. She had always loved Hope as if she was her own daughter.

“Mom, Hope’s gonna stay with us from now on,” Penelope just informed her mother as if she was the one in charge. It wasn’t a problem, though. Their relationship wasn’t really the typical mother-daughter relationship. They were more like sisters or best friends. It was like both had equal power when it came to making decisions.

“What happened?” Mrs. Park immediately asked, her tone worried. She knew that something must be wrong otherwise her daughter wouldn’t just announce that Hope would be staying with them from now on.

“I can’t stay with my parents anymore,” Hope spoke as tears began forming in her eyes. She was wondering whether to tell the woman what really happened, but before she could say anything else, her best friend interrupted her.

“They found out that she was dating a girl and kicked her out,” Penelope explained, making Hope look at her in shock. She had so easily told her mother that. 

“Those bastards,” Mrs. Park spat. “I should immediately contact every LGBTQ+ organization in Mystic Falls. They cannot get away with this.”

Hope was now looking at her and couldn’t believe how well she was taking the news. She was indeed surprised by the woman’s reaction, but she was even more surprised and a bit confused that Penelope’s mom actually wanted to contact LGBTQ+ organizations in  Mystic Falls .

“Mom decided to become an LGBTQ\+ activist. She joined some organization a few weeks ago,” Penelope explained because she saw that her best friend was a bit confused. 

Hope just nodded as soon as she heard that. She then began speaking again. “Please don’t call anyone! My parents are very powerful. I don’t want the organizations to be hurt because of this!” 

Hope then tried to grab the woman’s phone, immediately stopping her from dialing someone.

“I know that you’re scared, Hope, but just let us help you, okay?” Mrs. Park tried to convince the girl that they should go through with this but Hope just shook her head.

“I don’t want anymore drama. I’m tired of dealing with this,” Hope explained and then Penelope stepped in again when she saw in how much distress her best friend was.

“Mom, let’s just wait for a while and see how this plays out. I think it’s better to not involve any organizations in this matter for now,” Penelope told her mother and the woman then nodded. 

Mrs. Park sighed when she heard her daughter’s w or ds. “Okay, fine. I just really want to see homophobes like Mr. and Mrs.  Mikaelson get what’s coming to them.

“They will. Fate works in mysterious ways. I’m sure they’ll get what they deserve,” Penelope told her mother and then afterwards turned to Hope, smiling at her softly. “Wanna go to my room and play some video games?”

Hope nodded and then both of them made their way to Penelope’s room. They decided to play all their favourite games on the girl’s PlayStation. It was exactly what Hope needed at that moment so that she could take her mind off all those stressful events that had happened.

“I’m gonna kick your ass! Go Sub-Zero!” Penelope yelled out as she tried to beat Hope in Mortal Combat 11.

“You wish!” Hope smirked and did some sort of special move, that totally caught her best friend off guard. “Fatality!” 

Hope was definitely proud of herself and continued smirking at Penelope. The other girl just pouted and looked away. “You just got lucky.”

“It’s not luck, my dear best friend. It’s skill!” 

As Hope was celebrating her victory, her phone suddenly began buzzing. The girl looked at the screen, hoping it was her girlfriend that was calling, but sadly, it wasn’t. Hope’s smile immediately fell when she realized that it was her father who was calling her. She knew that she shouldn’t pick up, but it was like her hands had a mind of their own and she found herself answering.

“Hello?” Hope just said and waited for her father to speak.

“Hope, where are you?” Klaus Mikaelson answered angrily without so much as a greeting.

“I’m not coming home, dad. Mom made it pretty clear that if I left, then I shouldn’t even think about coming back,” Hope told her father, her voice shaking a little as she spoke. She was definitely nervous and it showed.

“I don’t care what your mother said. I am ordering you to come back home right now!” Klaus sounded so mad and it made Hope’s heart beat so much faster with each passing second.

“No!” 

Hope didn’t know where she found the courage to disobey her father, but it was there. 

“Hope, I’m warning you. I’ve had enough of your idiotic behavior!” Klaus had just about enough of everything and wanted all of this to go back to normal, so he even resorted to threats. “Don’t make me track you down and drag you back home!”

Hope knew that her father was an influential man and he could definitely drag her home if he made one phone call. But Hope wasn’t going to back down. She couldn’t let herself be scared of him anymore.

“I don’t care what you do. I’m not coming home. I don’t want to be at a place where I can’t be myself!” Hope fired back, making Klaus even angrier. 

“You stupid girl. How dare you turn your back on this family! After everything that we’ve done for you and all the hard work we’ve put in,” Klaus insulted her and made her feel like crap with each word that came out of his mouth. “You really want to choose some bitch over your own family? Alright then, let’s see how long you’ll last without our support!”

It was one thing to insult her, but when he was saying something against Josie, then Hope wouldn’t stand for it. “Don’t you dare call my girlfriend a bitch ever again, you fucking psychopath. I don’t need you! I can survive just fine on my own!” 

Hope was screaming at him so loudly that she felt like her vocal cords were going to be torn apart.

“You are nothing without me, Hope. Nothing! I made you get this far. You wouldn’t have been able to make a single basket if it wasn’t for me. Go and be a failure is that’s what you want then.”

After that the line was dead. Klaus had hung up and Hope immediately broke down crying. Penelope went to her best friend’s side to comfort her right away. 

“I need Josie. Can you take me to her, please?” Hope asked her best friend through sobs that tore her heart apart.

“I think it’s better if she comes here. You’re in no condition to go anywhere right now. Just give me your phone and go lie down on the bed. I’ll make sure she’ll be here.”

Hope nodded as soon as she heard her best friend’s words and did as she was told. Penelope then quickly scrolled through the contacts list and dialed Josie’s number. She didn’t have to wait long before Josie picked up. 

“Hey, it’s Penelope Park,” Penelope said as soon as she heard Josie’s voice on the other line.

“Uhm, hi… Why are you calling me from Hope’s phone? Is everything okay?” Josie worriedly asked and immediately imagined the worst.

“Hope’s not doing okay. Her parents kicked her out and she just had a huge fight with her dad on the phone. She’s staying with me but she’s in bad shape, Josie...” Penelope explained and Josie’s heartbeat immediately increased. The way Penelope described it was kind of as if Hope was beaten up and on the verge of dying, which made Josie panic even more. “She needs you. How fast can you come to 256 St. Andrew’s Street?”

“I’ll be there in 10 minutes. My dad’s loft is not far from there.” Josie immediately replied and hung up. She then took her coat and began running towards Penelope’s place.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Thank you for taking care of her,” Josie expressed her gratitude as soon as she arrived at Penelope’s house. 

“Always...” the girl told her and then pointed towards her room. “She’s in there.”

Josie immediately ran inside the room that her girlfriend was in and got on the bed so she could hug her. Hope immediately felt Josie’s arms wrap around her body and she let herself relax and melt into her embrace. She then continued sobbing, which made Josie feel absolutely horrible. She thought that Mr. and Mrs.  Mikaelson were such monsters for doing this to such an amazing person like Hope. She didn’t deserve it.

The two just stood like that for about 15 minutes with Josie whispering reassuring words in her girlfriend’s ear. When Hope calmed down she pulled away from Josie’s embrace and smiled at her before saying. “Thank you for coming.”

Josie smiled back at her and gave her a soft peck on the lips. “I’ll always be here for you whenever you need me.”

Josie wanted Hope to know that she could count on her for everything, no matter what it was. 

“I love you so much!” Hope just told her and then pulled Josie in for a kiss. It was a kiss that was filled with so much emotions that it was overwhelming. 

The two then got into their usual heated make out session, but they didn’t let it go further than that. They were in Penelope’s bed so it wouldn’t be appropriate. For the next half an hour, they just enjoyed each other’s lips.

“Hey, if you end up having sex on my bed, I’m gonna have to burn those sheets...” Penelope told them when she suddenly walked into the room with the idea of checking how they were doing. 

Her words made both girls laugh. Hope quickly grabbed a pillow and threw it at her best friend before saying, “Shut up, Pen!”

Penelope then told them that she had went to buy some ice cream and if they wanted some, they could join her in the living room. Hope and Josie were indeed craving some ice cream, so they immediately got off the bed and followed the other girl. 

“What kind did you get?” Hope asked as soon as she and Josie sat down on the couch. 

“Strawberry of course! Your favourite,” Penelope replied with a smirk on her face before going to the kitchen to get the ice cream. She quickly returned afterwards with 3 spoons and a big box in her hands. “Dig in, ladies!”

Josie and Hope took a spoon each and immediately began munching down on the ice cream, completely forgetting all of their problems. People did say that ice cream was the cure to every single problem out there. It was definitely true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Klaus is officially the worst dad ever here... :/ poor Hope... 
> 
> Thank you all for reading! ^-^


	32. Best friend power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! <3

“I like your dad’s loft a lot more than your other house,” Hope said as she and Josie were sitting on the couch in the living room at her father’s loft.

“It’s a lot smaller than the house, but it’s kinda cozy and I feel more at home here,” Josie explained as she snuggled into her girlfriend. “Even though I had lived in that house my entire life, I’ve never felt more at home than right now.”

“I think that it’s because right now you’re in my arms.” Hope placed a soft kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek and tightened her hold on her.

“Mmmm, that could be the reason, yeah...” Josie smiled and then turned around to face her girlfriend. She then kissed her softly on the lips. “Yeah, that’s definitely the reason.”

Hope smiled back and just stared at her girlfriend’s beautiful face. She had memorized all of her features, but her favourite one had to be the girl’s lips. They were the cutest, especially when Josie was pouting. She seemed like such an adorable puppy.

“Anywhere feels like home as long as you’re there with me,” Hope told her, making Josie roll her eyes. 

“You’re being so incredibly cheesy, Hope Mikaelson!” 

“It’s one of the things you love about me, right?” the girl asked and slowly moved her hands along the length of Josie’s arms before intertwining their fingers. 

“Do you even have to ask?” Josie chuckled and then leaned closer to her girlfriend before pressing her forehead against Hope’s and closing her eyes. “I can’t even count the number of things I love about you.”

“And you say I’m the cheesy one!” Hope laughed which made Josie quickly pull away from her. “You make me feel like I’m in one of those romcom teen movies on Netflix.”

“Shut up!” The girl pouted and then freed one of her hands to playfully slap her girlfriend’s shoulder.

“Oww, how could you hurt the person you love?!” Hope pretended to be really hurt, making Josie chuckle once again. 

“You totally deserve it for being such a goof” 

Hope continued laughing and then afterwards pushed her girlfriend off of her, before standing up from the couch. Josie looked at her in surprise and then noticed that the girl was heading off to the kitchen. 

“I can see now why you were jealous of my textbooks,” Josie said loud enough so her girlfriend could hear her. “Now I feel jealous of the food. You pushed me away for it.”

“I’m hungry,” Hope yelled out from the kitchen, making Josie pout.

“I’m sure you are.”

A few minutes later she came back with a plate full of slices of pizza. “Don’t worry, though. I’ll eat you afterwards.”

Hope’s words made Josie smirk. She loved it whenever her girlfriend talked to her like that.

“Okay, I forgive you then!” Josie told her and then attempted to grab a slice of pizza, but Hope pulled it away before she could get one.

“If you want one, you need to earn it!” Hope playfully told her and Josie just rolled her eyes.

“You do realize that it was my pizza to begin with, right?” Josie crossed her arms in front of her chest while pouting at the same time.

“Well, now it’s mine. If you want a slice, you need to do something for me first,” Hope explained and licked her lips seductively. 

Josie leaned closer, her face inches from her girlfriend’s. “What if I don’t want to?”

Hope could feel the girl’s warm breath against her skin and she could smell that intoxicating scent. It distracted her a bit and before she knew it, Josie had just grabbed a slice of pizza. In just a matter of seconds, the girl pulled away and began munching down on the slice.

“Hey, no fair!” Hope pouted because her plan to tease the other girl hadn’t worked. “You distracted me.”

Josie laughed and continued eating the pizza. She then said, “What were you planning on making me do for that pizza?”

“Oh I was gonna make you put on a show for me,” Hope answered, her pout now transforming into a devilish smirk. “You know, touch yourself. Preferably without clothes on.”

“Such a perv you are,” Josie rolled her eyes. She hadn’t expected anything else from her girlfriend.

The two girls then spent the next 15 minutes eating the pizza. Hope felt her phone buzz in her pocket the moment she took the last bite from her slice. The girl smiled the moment she saw that she had received a text message from a certain person.

“Who texted you?” Josie immediately asked her girlfriend with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh it’s one of my old friends. If you can call him that at least,” Hope told her and unlocked her phone. “I guess you could say we had some sort of thing in the past, but I don’t know if it was an actual relationship. It was weird.”

Josie immediately felt the jealousy build inside of her but she didn’t say anything. She just asked,”So you’re texting one of your exes?” 

“No, I wouldn’t call him an ex. It doesn’t matter. It’s complicated,” Hope explained like it was no big deal. She couldn’t tell that Josie was burning inside from jealousy. Was she really that dense? “His name is Roman and he just texted me out of nowhere the other day. We hadn’t communicated for so long and we’ve been catching up. I told him about us.”

“Ah, I see...” Josie just said. “What does he want now?”

“He just texted to see how I’m doing.”

Josie gave her best fake smile when she heard that. She didn’t like it when anybody other than her texted Hope. Well, maybe Penelope was fine, but anyone else, no. She wanted the girl all to herself, but she would never show how jealous she actually was. Josie didn’t want Hope to see her in that light.

“Great.” 

That was all that Josie could say as she watched Hope texting that Roman guy with a smile on her face.

It took 30 minutes before Hope finally stopped texting him, which made Josie feel like crap, but she didn’t show it. She just smiled as if everything was okay. After that Hope told her that she had to leave because she had to meet her brother at Starbucks. He was bringing her some of her things from the house like clothes, her laptop and anything else that was essential in Hope’s opinion.

As soon as Hope left, Josie immediately went to her room and opened up her laptop. She then gave her best friend a call.

“Dude, I need your help,” Josie said as soon as MG picked up. “I need you to find everything you can on some guy named Roman. He’s one of Hope’s old flings or whatever they were and they were texting for 30 minutes while she was here with me.”

MG immediately gasped from the other line before saying,”I’m right on it!”

Josie went into full FBI mode and she began searching for anything about this dude.

“Do you know his last name?” MG asked and Josie told him that she didn’t. The only thing she knew was that he was wearing sunglasses in his picture, so that’s the information that she gave her best friend. It was the only thing she noticed when she took a peak at Hope’s phone while the girl was texting him.

Josie immediately opened up Hope’s Facebook page and began searching through all of her 1463 friends. Meanwhile, MG was searching through Instagram. Hope didn’t have accounts on the other social media platforms. It wasn’t long before they came across the so-called Roman’s profile in both places.

“Dude, check this out!” MG began speaking and sent his best friend some picture of the boy.”It turns out he lives in England. Studies at King’s College.”

“So he’s much older than her,” Josie said and squinted her eyes. “Why would a guy like that talk to a young girl? Something seems fishy...”

“He could be one of her brother’s friends. Marcel follows him on Instagram.”

“I think you’re right. They’re friends on Facebook too,” Josie stated and continued investigating.

Both MG and Josie looked through all of his posts. They went so deep into his timeline and saw so many photos, even ones from 5 or 6 years ago. They spent probably 2 hours doing this. They discussed so many photos, especially ones with girls in them to find out if he has a girlfriend. This would eliminate the threat, if he’s seeing someone. They talked about every photo of his that Hope had reacted to and commented, just to get some clue about just how serious things were between them.

“Jo, she called him a cute nickname in this one!” MG suddenly yelled out, making Josie immediately grit her teeth. Her best friend had immediately sent her a link and Josie quickly opened it.

“She called him her little watermelon?!” Josie said in disgust because thoughts of her girlfriend calling some guy anything remotely cute made her want to throw up. “Ugh… I’m cringing so much...”

“I know right. This guy seems like a total douche,” MG joined in. The best friends then continued on making some bashful remarks about him. Nothing brings two friends closer than their mutual hate for someone. They didn’t know Roman. He might be a good guy, but the fact that he was once involved with Hope made both of them instantly dislike him.

“What should I do? How do I get Hope to stop texting him without showing her that I’m jealous?”

“Maybe just find another reason for her to stop. Oh you could confront her about his age or something and ask her to stop texting him because of that,” MG suggested, making Josie think about it for a moment.

“I might try that, yeah. Then we’ll see how things go from there,” Josie said and nodded her head. She would definitely try that.

“I love how crazy we get when we try to dig up information on someone,” MG told his best friend from the other line with such a proud voice.

“Me too! Best friend power!”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hope stood at the cash register, waiting to pay for the drinks she bought. She and Marcel had decided to meet up at Starbucks, because it was one of their favourite places to go together.

“That’ll be 12.99, miss” the barista told Hope with a big smile on her face.

“I’ll pay with my card,” the girl said and then pulled out her debit card and afterwards placed it on top the POS terminal’s screen. She then waited for the device to process her payment.

“I’m sorry but your card has been declined,” the barista informed Hope, making the girl’s eyes widen in shock.

“That can’t be right,” Hope uttered and then pulled out another one of her cards. “Let me try with a different card.”

Unfortunately it was rejected as well. Hope tried with every single one of her cards but she couldn’t pay with any of them. She then took out the few bucks that she had in her wallet and thankfully they were enough to cover the drinks.

Afterwards, the girl went to the table where her brother was waiting for her. She gave him his drink and told him with surprise, “I couldn’t pay with my cards for some reason.”

“Yeah, I was going to tell you,” Marcel began speaking with a sad tone. “I heard dad tell mom that he canceled all your cards.”

“Shit...” Hope cursed under her breath. “This is bad. I don’t have more cash on me.”

“Don’t worry. I got you covered.” Marcel smiled at his sister and then took a sip from his drink. ”I put some cash in with your clothes.”

“Thank you...” Hope sighed and smiled at her brother. It was a sad smile and Marcel immediately noticed. He knew that this situation was hurting his sister so much.

“I’m here if you need help with anything else,” the boy then said and placed a hand over his sister’s to reassure her.

Hope loved her brother so much at that moment. He was with her through what was probably the toughest moment in her life and she was glad to have him in her life. Honestly, she didn’t need her parents. As long as she had him, Josie and Penelope, she knew that she’d get through this crap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jealous Josie for you all... :D She goes absolutely in total FBI mode. :D I love her! Poor Hope tho... got her cards cancelled :( thankfully she has the best brother in the world! <3


	33. Avengers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! <3

It’s been a few days since Hope moved in with her best friend. Things there were going great, sort of.

There have been a few weird moments during her stay at Penelope’s place so far. Ever since Mrs. Park found out that Hope’s dating a girl, she decided to make the house more LGBTQ+ friendly, so she brought a lot of rainbow things for decoration. 

Hope was staying in their guest room, which Mrs. Park turned into something like a rainbow heaven. She gave her rainbow sheets, put flags everywhere and even posters from the organization she was a part of. Hope definitely thought it was too much, but she couldn’t say anything. She was a guest in their house, so she kept her mouth shut, nodded and smiled at the nice gesture.

“Here you go, darling,” Mrs. Park said to Hope and gave her some rainbow cookies. 

“Mom loves everything LGBTQ+ related, ” Penelope told her best friend and smiled. She then turned to her mother and asked, “How did you get into that organization you’re in again?”

“Oh well my new hairdresser told me that he’s gay and shared his heartbreaking story about how his parents kicked him out when he was younger. He had a really rough time on the streets, but he managed to get back on his feet and decided to start RainbowClub, so he could help struggling teens,” Mrs. Park said to both of them and put more cookies into Hope’s plate. “A while ago I helped him out with a fundraiser event and kinda got hooked from there. I really support their cause.”

“It all makes sense now.” Hope smiled and began eating the cookies. “The way you reacted when you found out what my parents did. I understand now.”

“I can still ask RainbowClub for assistance if you’d like? We can also get the other organizations in Mystic Falls involved,” Mrs. Park offered but Hope shook her head.

“No need. Things are fine now. My parents are out of my life,” the girl stated and Mrs. Park just nodded.

“Okay, but if you ever change your mind, just let me know.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Marcel came for a visit that day. He needed to bring some more things for Hope and give her money again, of course. Hope felt really bad for relying on him like that, but she had no choice. She couldn’t survive without money. The sad thing was that she couldn’t get a job. She’s never worked a day in her life and she wasn’t very competent in many areas. The only thing she was really good at was basketball. 

“I think I can convince mom and dad to accept your relationship by the way,” Marcel told his sister and Hope looked at him suspiciously. 

“How?”

“I’m working on something. It’s business related and it might just play an important part in my plan,” the boy explained with a devilish smirk. He wasn’t good at a lot of things, but negotiation wasn’t one of them. If someone could strike a deal, it would be him.

“I don’t know, Marcel. I’m not entirely sure if I want that.” Hope sighed and looked at her brother with sad eyes. “I mean, I definitely want them to accept my relationship, but if it’s not because they want to, it’s kind of stupid.”

“I think that this would be the only way they would accept it,” Marcel said, his expression just as sad as Hope’s. “You know how mom and dad are. They only care about the family’s reputation.”

“Yeah, I know...”

As much as Hope wished her parents would finally accept her for who she is and be genuinely happy for her, it was never going to happen and she knew it. If Marcel’s plan were to play out correctly, then that would be the only chance Hope would get to receive approval from her parents.

“We’ll see, though. I still need to do some things to complete the plan. If it’s successful, you’ll decide what you’d want to do from there. I’ll support you no matter what.” Marcel placed his hand on his sister’s back to show her that he supports her. “Although, I’d really love it if you could come back home. I miss you...”

“I miss you too, Marcel,” Hope said wholeheartedly and then gave her brother a hug. 

They pulled away when they noticed that Penelope had finished some game that she was playing and was now ready to give them her attention. She had heard what they were talking about, but she decided not to share her opinion on the topic because she knew that Hope wouldn’t like it. Penelope definitely didn’t want her best friend going back to that hell hole. Still, it was her decision and she had no right to interfere. 

“Are you guys ready for a Marvel marathon?” Penelope asked her best friend and Marcel, then switched off her PlayStation. “I’m kinda in the mood for some Avengers action!”

“I’m down for that. Let’s go to the living room and watch it there!” Hope happily exclaimed and quickly got off her best friend’s bed. Marcel followed behind her along with Penelope. 

“I’m kinda craving some popcorn, so I’m gonna go make some!” Penelope stated and then headed off to the kitchen, leaving her best friend and Marcel alone in the living room on the couch. 

While waiting for Penelope to get back, Hope decided to load the movie on the big smart TV. Marcel just relaxed and let his sister do everything.

It wasn’t long before Penelope came back with the popcorn and the 3 got comfortable. They were ready to watch some action.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Please, Iron Man is by far the best Avenger!” Marcel told Penelope and the girl just rolled her eyes. 

“No way! He has no chance against Thor, the actual God of Thunder!” 

Penelope was a total Thor fangirl. She loved the actor and everything about him, especially his abs. The really cried through Endgame when they made him fat. Oh that day was so traumatic for Penelope. 

While her best friend and brother were arguing, Hope was on her phone, not really paying much attention to them or the movie. She was texting Josie of course.

  
  


**Josie Saltzman: How’s the movie going? <3**

**Hope Mikaelson: I don’t know. I’m kinda distracted at the moment and am not really paying attention… **

**Josie Saltzman: Really? And what has you all distracted? It wouldn’t be little old me by any chance, hm? :3**

  
  


Hope smirked as soon as she read the text message from her girlfriend. It was so obvious why she was distracted but the girl just had to ask anyway.  _ Such a tease… _

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: I can’t stop thinking about you, so yeah… You’re the reason why I’m so distracted. You and your perfect smile, delicious lips and gorgeous eyes… <3**

**Josie Saltzman: What will you do one day when I grow old and am not beautiful anymore? :/ Will you still like me then?**

**Hope Mikaelson: Babe, I’ll like you no matter how you look. I’ll probably still like you even if your whole body was covered in fur.. :D **

**Josie Saltzman: Hahah, okay, I wasn’t expecting that :D **

  
  


Hope began laughing as the conversation turned funny. She loved Josie so much and really didn’t care about how she looked. The girl had managed to win her over mostly because of her personality. Her looks were just a bonus. Honestly, Hope had never loved anyone as much as Josie. It was kind of scary sometimes when she thought about it. She didn’t know what she would do if she ever lost her.

“Oh my god! Yes! Go baby!” Penelope suddenly yelled as Thor appeared on the screen. “That’s my man!”

It startled Hope and the girl jumped up, almost dropping her phone in the process.

“Penelope!” Hope screamed at her. “Stop yelling like that you bitch!” 

“Oh come on… You’d scream too if you were to see your girlfriend being all hot like Thor was just now,” Penelope teased, making Hope immediately blush. 

“Pfft, fine… Fair point!” Hope just gave up arguing with her best friend because she knew that Penelope was right. She would definitely react the same way if it was Josie there.

“Why don’t you invite Josie over?” Penelope then asked and wiggled her eyebrows at her best friend.

“She has to study tonight. She’ll definitely not agree to come,” Hope answered and sighed. Josie was once again choosing her textbooks over her girlfriend.

“Gimme your phone. I’ll convince her,” Penelope then said and motioned for Hope to give her the phone.

Hope handed it to her and Penelope immediately began typing something. Her best friend attempted to look but Penelope hid the screen from her. Marcel on the other hand had a clear view of the screen.

“Oh that’s good...” Marcel laughed and gave his sister’s best friend a thumbs up.

“All done. She’ll come over shortly,” Penelope then told Hope and handed the phone back to her.

“How did you convince her? What did you write?” Hope said and immediately opened up the chat with her girlfriend.

  
  


**Hope Mikaelson: Hey, this is Penelope Park. Hope said you wouldn’t come over to watch a movie with us cuz you’re studying. Well, let me make you an offer you can’t refuse. Come over and I’ll send you a really funny picture of Hope as a kid. You really want to see it, trust me. ;) It’s really embarrassing. :D **

**Josie Saltzman: With an offer like that, I don’t see how I can refuse. I’ll be right there ;)**

  
  


“I’m going to kill you, Penelope,” Hope threw a death glare in her best friend’s direction. “Damn it… I think I know which picture you were referring to. Josie will never let me live it down.”

Josie arrived 15 minutes later and Penelope held up her end of the bargain. She immediately dug up the picture and sent it to her best friend’s girlfriend.

“Oh my god,” Josie said and began laughing hysterically as soon as she opened the photo. “You are not allowed to call me a nerd ever again, Hope!”

The photo was of Hope wearing glasses and holding up an award for a spelling bee competition. She was wearing a typical nerdy uniform and there were textbooks on the desk in front of her.

“I am never gonna hear the end of this, aren’t I?” Hope sighed and looked away. 

“Never!” Josie told her and then threw her arms around her girlfriend. Hope just rolled her eyes and attempted to push her away, but Josie wouldn’t let go. 

“Ughh, Jo!” Hope whined and Josie chuckled at her girlfriend’s behavior. 

“You were a pretty cute nerd, though.”

“Both of you are so sweet to each other. I’m gonna catch diabetes just listening to you,” Penelope told them, making everyone laugh.

“Let’s just watch the movie, please. I want to watch how much better than Thor my boy Iron Man is!” Marcel then blurted out, making Penelope’s blood boil with his words. 

The two then immediately began another heated argument about Thor vs Iron Man. Hope and Josie didn’t really pay attention to them. They just snuggled up together and decided to enjoy the movie. The two loved being in each other’s arms like that. It was like all the worries that they had would just disappear. 


	34. End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! Double update!

“Hope, stop!” Josie screamed when her girlfriend threw some flour at her. “You’re being so immature!”

“Oh come on, babe…” Hope laughed her ass off and didn’t stop making a mess. “Do you really want us to be like those boring couples who don’t have a food fight while making pancakes?”

“Yes, I do!” Josie pouted and then grabbed the mixer from the counter. “I’m way too hungry right now and I want us to make them faster!”

“Aww, my poor baby is so grumpy when she’s hungry,” Hope said and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend’s waist as Josie began mixing the batter.

Josie smiled at her girlfriend as soon as she felt Hope’s lips on her cheek. “You are such an unbelievable dork, Hope.”

It took them maybe about an hour more to finish everything because Hope just wouldn’t stop goofing off. Once they were finished, they enjoyed munching on the delicious pancakes together in the living room of Alaric’s loft.

“Dad, do you want some pancakes?” Josie asked her father as soon as she saw him come inside the room, but the man was getting ready to head off somewhere and was in a hurry, so he just shook his head as soon as he heard his daughter’s words. “Guess that’s a ‘No’ then...”

Hope raised an eyebrow as she saw him head out without saying anything. “I wonder what that’s all about.”

“Maybe he’s in a hurry to meet his secretary,” Josie said and chuckled. “I’d be like that if I was heading off to meet with you.”

“Aww, you’d want to see me as soon as possible. That’s so cute!” Hope gave her girlfriend an adorable cheeky smile, making Josie not able to resist the urge to lean in and give her a kiss.

“Of course!”

The girls finished their pancakes 10 minutes later and were about to watch a movie when they heard the doorbell ring. They looked at each other with surprised expressions and made their way to the door, trying to be as quiet as possible.

“Look through the peep hole to see who it is,” Hope whispered and Josie nodded before taking a peek.

Her eyes immediately widened when she saw her mother on the other side of that door. _What in the world is she doing here? _

“It’s my mother,” Josie told her girlfriend and Hope immediately raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Josie then unlocked and opened the door, so she would see what her mother wants.

“Hello, Josie,” Caroline said as soon as she was face to face with her daughter. She made no reaction when she saw that Hope was standing beside her.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” Josie asked without greeting her mother at all. They hadn’t seen each other since she had moved into her father’s loft, which was about a week ago.

“I came here because I want to talk to you.” Caroline actually sounded nice when she said that which made Josie even more surprised. She hadn’t expected it at all.

“Okay, come in.” Josie then opened the door wide enough and she and Hope stepped aside so Caroline can enter. Then Josie led her to the living room where they could have their conversation.

“I should leave you two alone,” Hope told Josie and her mother as soon as they were in the living room.

“No, you can stay. I actually need to talk to you too,” Caroline said as she sat down on the couch.

Hope nodded and sat down as well. Both she and Josie were surprised because of what Caroline had said. They had no clue why she would want to talk to both of them.

Josie decided to sit down as well and both girls were now in front of Caroline, waiting for her to speak, but the woman was just looking at them without saying anything.

“What is it that you want to talk about?” Josie asked because she grew a bit impatient. She was hoping that whatever her mother had to say would be quick and she’d be on her way.

“I came here because I actually wanted to apologize to both of you,” Caroline told both of them, her voice sounding sincere.

“What?” Josie asked in disbelieve. She thought that she might have misheard the words that came out of her mother’s mouth. Both girls couldn’t believe it.

“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did about your relationship,” Caroline explained and looked away because she felt embarrassed. This was harder than she had thought. The woman rarely admitted when she was wrong and hadn’t apologized to many people in her life. “I had a lot of time to think ever since you left. I just needed some time to accept all of this. It’s all very new to me but I am willing to learn.”

“Why the sudden change of opinion? Not long ago you were telling me that this was wrong and that I should be with a man,” Josie asked her because she thought that maybe there was something fishy behind all of this, that maybe her mother had some sort of plan, another diabolical scheme to control her life.

“I guess everything that happened between me and your father.” Caroline paused and sighed as memories of the affair came rushing back to her. “I guess it just made me realize that my beliefs about love were wrong. There is no right way to do it, there is no framework that we have to follow. For so long I had believed that one must always follow specific steps and that’s all, but I realized that that’s not the case. I did everything like I was supposed to and yet your father still chose someone else over me.”

“Mom-” Josie began speaking, but Caroline interrupted her.

“Wait, let me finish. I realized that love comes in many different forms. Whether you are dating a man or a woman, it doesn’t matter. You can still be incredibly happy, have a family and you’re prone to heartbreak just like everybody else. There are so many paths that you can go through, so many different experiences that you have. I guess the affair just made me realize that there isn’t just one path like I had believed up until now, like I had been taught all my life.” Caroline took Josie’s hand in hers and smiled at her daughter. “I accept the path that you’ve chosen, Josie. I accept your relationship and I want you to be happy.”

Josie immediately stood up and embraced her mother. She felt tears fall down her eyes because she felt so happy that the woman had finally come to her senses and accepted her relationship with Hope.

Caroline stayed for a while longer after that and the three of them were having a normal conversation. The older woman was actually nice for once in her life and Josie couldn’t be happier. Hope also loved the fact that Josie’s mother came around, but she also felt a bit sad that her own parents weren’t like that. She wished that they could accept her relationship as well.

After Caroline left, Hope and Josie decided to watch that movie that they had put on hold. They turned it on and proceeded with cuddling on the couch.

When they were 20 minutes into the movie, Hope felt her phone begin buzzing in her pocket. She immediately took it out and unlocked it. A wide smile formed on her face when she saw that she had received a message from Roman.

“Roman texted me,” Hope informed her girlfriend and sent the boy a quick text message, making Josie frown a bit. She really hated being so jealous of some guy who was miles away. “Said he had a day off from university and is wondering what I’m doing.”

“Doesn’t it bother you that he’s a lot older than you? I mean, he studies at university,” Josie just said, the jealousy evident in her voice. “It’s a bit creepy.”

“No, I’ve known him forever. He’s one of my brother’s friends,” Hope explained and chuckled because of what Josie had said. She could never imagine Roman as creepy. They’ve known each other for ages.

“It’s still a bit weird. Are you sure that his intentions are just friendly?” Josie tried to take MG’s advice and came up with another reason to turn Hope against this boy.

“I’m sure. He’s just a friend, Jo...” Hope reassured her girlfriend, making Josie sigh. “You’re not jealous, are you?”

Hope finally caught on to what her girlfriend was feeling. Josie just looked away because she was embarrassed that the other girl was seeing her in that light.

“Maybe,” she just muttered under her breath, making Hope chuckle and wrap her arms around Josie.

“You’re so cute!”

“Shut up. I’m not.” Josie pouted but didn’t pull away from her girlfriend’s hold.

“Yes, you are. You’re very very very cute and you have nothing to be jealous of,” Hope reassured her. Josie then closed her eyes and relaxed, a small smile finally grazing her lips. “You’re the only one I want. Nobody else.”

“I just hate it when someone I don’t trust texts you,” Josie confessed and Hope leaned back a little so she could look at her in the eyes.

“I understand, but I promise, you have nothing to worry about. He’s just a friend.”

Josie leaned in and gave her girlfriend a short and sweet kiss on the lips before saying, “Okay. I’ll try not to be jealous of him, I promise.”

“Good. Now let’s watch the movie. We’ve been postponing it long enough.”

Josie nodded and then snuggled back into her girlfriend. Hope told Roman that she couldn’t text right at that moment and decided to give all her attention to Josie and the movie. It felt great and both girls were happy because of how the day’s events were unfolding.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hope hadn’t expected how the rest of the day was going to unfold. It was 7 PM and she was currently standing right in front of her parents’ house for the past 15 minutes without going inside.

Marcel had called her after she left the loft and informed her that he had convinced their parents to talk to her, so they could come to some sort of an agreement because of this whole situation that had happened. Hope was skeptical at first but her brother had told her that everything would be okay, so she decided to trust him. This is how she had ended up in front of her parents’ house.

“Come on, Hope,” the girl said to herself. “You can do this. You have to face them.” She then unlocked the door a few seconds later and went inside. Thankfully her parents hadn’t changed the locks.

Marcel immediately came to greet her and afterwards the two made their way to the dining room to speak with their parents over dinner.

At first it was awkward because her parents didn’t way anything. They had just greeted her and then afterwards everyone just stood there in silence as they ate.

Hope felt extremely uncomfortable and just wanted to scream for someone to say something.

“Marcel, can you pass me the beans, please?” Klaus asked his son and Marcel immediately did as he was told.

“Alright, cut the crap. Why did you call me here?” Hope suddenly said, making everyone look at her In shock.

“We were going to wait and talk after we had finished eating, but it seems like you can’t wait, Hope...” Klaus said to his daughter coldly. “No surprise there.”

Hope felt like punching him the face so hard at that moment, but she refrained from doing so.

“Yes, I can’t. Let’s get this over with,” Hope replied just as coldly as her father.

“That’s enough, both of you!” Hayley suddenly yelled out, trying to get the whole situation under control. She didn’t want her husband and their daughter to fight. “I want this to be a nice family dinner. Please, try to be civil, okay?”

“I can talk however I want.” Klaus was being stubborn as usual and didn’t listen to his wife.

“Please, dad...” Marcel stepped in. His father looked at him and just sighed afterwards.

“Fine...”

“Okay, I’ll behave as well,” Hope told them and took a sip from the glass of orange juice that was in front of her.

“We called you here because Marcel has managed to convince us to accept your lifestyle choices,” Klaus then said, making Hope almost choke on her drink.

“Really?” she girl asked in surprise. Hope already knew that this was coming, but actually hearing her father say the words was still a shock for her.

“We came to a compromise. He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” the man explained. “You know me. I’m a businessman, Hope.”

“What kind of offer?” Hope’s eyes darted from her father to her brother.

“He managed to strike an incredible deal with the CEO of KTM Enterprises about merging with our company,” Klaus began telling his daughter.”He impressed him so much that the CEO wanted to work with Marcel and nobody else.”

“I don’t see how that has anything to do with me and my relationship with Josie,” Hope stated, making her father laugh.

“Always so impatient, Hope...” the man said and took a sip of his glass of wine.

“I told dad that I wouldn’t work with KTM Enterprises and I won’t inherit our company in the future if he and mom didn’t accept your relationship,” Marcel stepped in.

“Not working with KTM Enterprises will hurt our reputation more than having my own daughter date a girl in public,” Klaus explained. “You know how business is, Hope.”

Hope couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She was glad that her parents are willing to accept her relationship with Josie, but she hated the reasons why. It was always about that damn company and the stupid reputation. _Well, I guess this is better than nothing… _

Hope knew that she couldn’t stay and mooch off her best friend’s family for a long time. It wasn’t right, even though Mrs. Park and Penelope said it was fine. Hope didn’t really feel comfortable with that situation now that she had a choice. She also didn’t want to have her brother bring her money all the time. Now that she had this opportunity, maybe she should take it.

Her parents were definitely horrible and she knew that they didn’t accept her relationship from the bottom of their hearts. They weren’t proud of her and want her to be happy like Josie’s parents wanted. But they would allow her to come back to the house, give her back access to her money and she could resume her basketball training.

At that moment Hope decided that the better choice would be to come back home. It would just be until she graduated and went off to university. She could wait that long, right?

“Now you can come back and live here, Hope,” Marcel cheerfully said to his sister.

It was kind of bittersweet and Hope knew that she shouldn’t go back, but maybe it was for the best. She knew her parents were never going to change. Hell, it took Marcel to threaten their father just so they’d accept her relationship. He never would’ve let her come back otherwise. But staying at the Mikaelson family’s house would be better for her future than staying with Penelope. Her father had resources and it was better for Hope to utilize them.

“Alright, then...” Hope then said and her father and mother both nodded. It was settled. She’ll go back.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Penelope didn’t take the news of her best friend going back to her parents very well, but she decided to support her. She still told her that if anything happened, she could come and stay with her again. Josie also wasn’t too thrilled about Hope going back, but she wouldn’t judge. It was her decision.

A few days later both Josie and Hope were sitting on the bench near the basketball court in front of the girl’s house, just cuddling and looking at the starts.

“I feel kind of weird, Hope...” Josie said to her girlfriend, making Hope look at her with a raised eyebrow.

“You feel weird sitting her and looking at the stars with me?” she asked her and pulled away a little. “Don’t tell me you’re going to dump me!”

Josie laughed at her girlfriend’s reaction and shook her head.”No, silly. I feel weird because we don’t have to hide our relationship anymore.”

“Why? It’s better this way. Now I can kiss you in public without feeling scared that someone might catch us,” Hope told her and immediately pressed her lips against Josie’s afterwards.

The girl smiled in between the kiss and then said, “It’s perfect… But still weird. I can’t believe we got our happy ending.”

“Not yet, baby!” Hope suddenly blurted out and then stood up from the bench. She extended her hand so Josie could grab it. When she did, Hope pulled her towards the court and then handed her the basketball.

“What are you planning?” Josie asked and Hope just smirked.

“Shoot at the basket. If you miss, I get to burn your textbooks,” Hope explained to her girlfriend. “If you make the shot, then you’ll burn them yourself.”

Josie rolled her eyes at Hope’s stupid suggestion. And here she thought that Hope was going to do something incredibly romantic like ask her for her hand in marriage at the basketball court. Josie should’ve known better. She should’ve guessed that Hope would do something silly.

“We’re not burning my textbooks!” Josie threw the ball at Hope, but the girl dodged it.

“What if we leave just one alive? How about that?” Hope continued and threw her arms around her girlfriend playfully. Josie tired pushing her away, but Hope wouldn’t let go.

“You’re so unbelievable, Hope...”

“You still love me,” the girl said and then kissed Josie softly. “You love me so damn much!”

“I do love you, you goof! More than anything in this world!”

Hope looked at Josie as if she was the most beautiful human being in this world. She then just blurted out, “Then marry me...”

Josie’s eyes widened because she couldn’t believe that Hope would just ask her that. It was a fantasy of hers of course. She had imagined her and Hope getting married and having a beautiful wedding, children, pets, everything.

“Uhmm...”

“In the future, baby… Not now obviously. We’re way too young for that. But I do want to someday marry you.” Hope explained when she saw the panicked look on her girlfriend’s face. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you too, babe. Of course I’ll marry you someday,” Josie smiled widely as she felt tears begin to stream down her face. Hope immediately brushed them away with her thumbs as she cupped her girlfriend’s face. She then leaned in and kissed her again. The kiss was so soft and gently and Josie thought that she couldn’t feel happier in that moment.

“You were right. It’s so much better when we don’t have to hide our relationship.” Josie said as soon as they broke the kiss and then pressed her forehead against Hope’s.

“I’m gonna miss you being my dirty little secret, though.”

Both girls chuckled as soon as Hope said that. They had kept their relationship a secret for so long and now they could finally be together freely without a care in the world. They could enjoy spending time together without worry. They weren’t each other’s dirty little secret anymore. That made them a little bit sad, but the happiness they felt was a lot greater. They could have their always and forever without anyone getting in their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is it guys... the last chapter. I can't believe I actually got to finish this story like.. ever :D It took me almost 4 years. I originally posted this story back in 2016, well some of it and should've finished it back then, but I just couldn't. :/ It's based on my relationship with my ex-girlfriend and a lot of things that happened in the story happened to us, aaaaand we broke up back in 2016 (she cheated on me >< ) so I lost all kinds of motivation back then to finish this story. It took me such a long time to get over her and find motivation to write again. I'm glad I finally found motivation, though, and managed to complete this story now. It wasn't originally going to end this way, but I really wanted to give the characters the happy ending that I never got. Thank you all for reading this story and for the support. I hope you enjoyed it. Love you so much, guys! <3 ^-^


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